Greece: mountains, seas and city-states; Athens and Sparta

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Greece's land and sea

   Feature	What it is	What it meant for people
   Mountains	?	farmland was limited, but there was enough fertile soil and winter rain to farm
   Seas	the Aegean Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west, both part of the Mediterranean	ships could carry people and goods between coasts and islands
   Islands	thousands of islands; the largest is Crete	many Greek communities lay close to the sea
   City-states	each polis was a city and its land, with its own government	Greece was divided into many separate states
   Farming	olive trees, grapevines, orchards, herbs and vegetables	olive oil and grapes were important foods

   The cell marked ? is blank.

2. 1.

   Pia's chart has a blank: how much of Greece is mountainous?

   • The whole country
   • About 80%
   • About 8%
   • About 20%
3. 2.

   Tala's chart has a blank: what is a polis?

   • A city and its land, with its own government
   • A kind of olive tree
   • One government for the whole of Greece
   • The largest Greek island

4. Greece's land and sea

   Feature	What it is	What it meant for people
   Mountains	about 80% of Greece is mountainous, with small rivers	farmland was limited, but there was enough fertile soil and winter rain to farm
   Seas	the Aegean Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west, both part of the Mediterranean	ships could carry people and goods between coasts and islands
   Islands	thousands of islands; the largest is Crete	many Greek communities lay close to the sea
   City-states	each polis was a city and its land, with its own government	Greece was divided into many separate states
   Farming	olive trees, grapevines, orchards, herbs and vegetables	olive oil and grapes were important foods

5. 3.

   Greece's mainland is a peninsula. What is a peninsula, Zee asks?

   • A chain of mountains
   • A deep valley
   • Land with water around it, like an island
   • Land with water on three sides
6. 4.

   Crete is Greece's largest island. What is an island, Ari asks?

   • A city with its own government
   • A tall mountain
   • Land with water on every side
   • Land with water on three sides
7. 5.

   Bo reads that Greece had many city-states. What is a city-state?

   • An island with no people
   • A country with one ruler
   • A city that governs itself and its land
   • A street in a city
8. 6.

   Why was farmland limited in Greece, Esme asks?

   • Islands covered the fields
   • Rain did not fall there in the winter months
   • Most of the land is mountains
   • The rivers were huge
9. 7.

   Which crops grew well in Greece, Jun asks?

   • Rice and tea
   • Corn and potatoes
   • Cocoa and coffee
   • Olives and grapes
10. 8.

    With mountains between communities, why would the sea matter so much, Kira asks?

    • Ships could reach places mountains cut off
    • The sea was smaller than the mountains, so it did not matter
    • There were no coasts
    • Mountains made travel easy
11. 9.

    Why might each polis have its own government, Milo asks?

    • The sea ruled them
    • They had no people
    • Each was a separate city with its own land
    • They had one shared ruler
12. 10.

    Noah's friend says ancient Greece was one country with one government. What is the best reply?

    • Disagree: it had no government
    • Disagree: it had many city-states
    • Agree: Crete ruled it
    • Agree: Greece has one government ruling the whole land