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?

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

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

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

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

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

   • A tall mountain
   • A city with its own government
   • 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?

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

   Which crops grew well in Greece, Jun asks?

   • Rice and tea
   • Olives and grapes
   • Corn and potatoes
   • Cocoa and coffee
9. 7.

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

   • There were no coasts
   • Mountains made travel easy
   • Ships could reach places mountains cut off
   • The sea was smaller than the mountains, so it did not matter
10. 8.

    Greece had many separate city-states, not one country. Which feature in the chart helps explain that, Luz asks?

    • Most Greeks lived on Crete
    • The olive trees
    • One king ruled the Greeks
    • Mountains and seas split up the land
11. 9.

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

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

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

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