Athens and Sparta compared: government, daily life, education and values

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Athens and Sparta

   Part	Athens	Sparta
   Who ruled	an Assembly of citizens, with officials they chose	two kings, with a council of elders and five overseers called ephors
   Who took part	male citizens	the Spartiates, the men with full citizenship
   How boys grew up	went to school if the family could pay	?
   How girls grew up	mostly learned at home to spin, weave and cook	trained in sports and exercise
   What was valued	taking part in government, trade and the arts	military skill, discipline and a simple life
   Enslaved people	enslaved workers, who had no rights	helots, who farmed the land for the Spartiates

   The cell marked ? is blank. Below the chart: in 480 BCE, Athens and Sparta were allies against Persia. They fought each other in the Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BCE.

2. 1.

   Jun's chart has a blank: how did Spartan boys grow up?

   • Farmed the land for the Spartiates
   • Stayed at home with the family until 30
   • Left home at 7 for the agoge
   • Went to school if the family could pay
3. 2.

   Kira's chart has a blank: who ruled Sparta?

   • The helots who farmed the land
   • One king and no council
   • Two kings, with elders and ephors
   • An Assembly of citizens and their officials
4. 3.

   Luz's chart has a blank: what did Athens value?

   • Farming land for the citizens
   • Military skill and a simple life
   • Learning to spin, weave and cook
   • Government, trade and the arts

5. Athens and Sparta

   Part	Athens	Sparta
   Who ruled	an Assembly of citizens, with officials they chose	two kings, with a council of elders and five overseers called ephors
   Who took part	male citizens	the Spartiates, the men with full citizenship
   How boys grew up	went to school if the family could pay	left home at 7 for the agoge, a training school
   How girls grew up	mostly learned at home to spin, weave and cook	trained in sports and exercise
   What was valued	taking part in government, trade and the arts	military skill, discipline and a simple life
   Enslaved people	enslaved workers, who had no rights	helots, who farmed the land for the Spartiates

   Below the chart: in 480 BCE, Athens and Sparta were allies against Persia. They fought each other in the Peloponnesian War, 431 to 404 BCE.

6. 4.

   Noah reads the word helot. What was a helot?

   • An enslaved farm worker
   • A king's adviser in Sparta
   • A boy training in the agoge
   • A free trader in Athens
7. 5.

   Pia reads the word ephor. What was an ephor?

   • A boy training in the agoge
   • One of the two Spartan kings
   • One of five Spartan overseers
   • A speaker in the Athenian Assembly
8. 6.

   Boys left home at 7 for a training school. Does that describe Athens or Sparta, Ren asks?

   • Neither city
   • Athens
   • Sparta
   • Both cities
9. 7.

   Girls mostly learned at home to spin, weave and cook. Does that describe Athens or Sparta, Tala asks?

   • Sparta
   • Neither city
   • Both cities
   • Athens
10. 8.

    How many years passed from the alliance against Persia in 480 BCE to the start of the war in 431 BCE, Ari asks?

    • 49 years
    • 911 years
    • 59 years
    • 490 years
11. 9.

    Which came first, the alliance against Persia or the Peloponnesian War, Bo asks?

    • The war, in 431 BCE
    • Both in the same year
    • Neither: both were CE
    • The 480 BCE alliance
12. 10.

    How many years did the Peloponnesian War last, from 431 BCE to 404 BCE, Esme asks?

    • 270 years
    • 17 years
    • 27 years
    • 835 years