Back a claim about the past with evidence from two sources
Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
Read this first
Two accounts (The Nile and Egypt's Farms)
Account A. [1] Each year the Nile rose and spread across the fields of ancient Egypt. [2] When the water went down again, it left a layer of rich silt on the land. [3] Most of Egypt is desert with little rain, so farmers depended on this yearly flood.
Account B. [4] Farmers in ancient Egypt grew wheat and barley as their main grain crops, along with flax for cloth. [5] They planted their seeds in the soft, wet soil after the floodwater went down. [6] Government officials measured the height of each year's flood, which helped them decide the level of taxes.
Ari reads both accounts. Which claim do they support?
- Egyptian farmers needed lots of rain to grow crops
- The Nile flooded each month
- The Nile flood helped Egyptian farming
- Egypt had no farmers
Two accounts (Roads Across Italy)
Account A. [1] The Via Appia, begun in 312 BCE, was one of the earliest and most important Roman roads. [2] It connected the city of Rome to Brindisi, a port in southeast Italy. [3] Builders gave the road a hard surface of carefully fitted stone blocks.
Account B. [4] Roman roads carried government officials, ordinary travelers and trade goods. [5] Official messages for the government also traveled along them. [6] Stone posts called milestones stood beside the roads and marked the distances.
Jun reads both accounts. Which claim do they support?
- Roman roads were made of wood
- Romans had no messages to send
- Roman roads helped people and goods travel
- Each Roman road ran on to Brindisi
Kira wants evidence that roads helped the government. Which sentence shows it best?
- [1]
- [6]
- [3]
- [5]
Which claim do these accounts NOT support, Luz asks?
- The Via Appia cost more than any other road
- Milestones marked distances
- Travelers used the roads
- The Via Appia had a stone surface
Two accounts (A New Material for Writing)
Account A. [1] Before paper, Chinese writers usually wrote on strips of bamboo or on pieces of silk. [2] Bamboo strips were heavy and awkward to carry, and silk was costly.
Account B. [3] In 105 CE, an official named Cai Lun presented an improved way of making paper. [4] He used tree bark, hemp, old rags and fishing nets. [5] Over the next centuries, paper slowly took the place of bamboo. [6] By the 300s CE, bamboo was largely given up as a material for writing in China.
Milo reads both accounts. Which claim do they support?
- Paper replaced bamboo across China in a single year
- Paper answered a problem with old materials
- Bamboo was light and cheap
- Silk was free to use
Noah wants evidence that bamboo was hard to carry. Which sentence shows it best?
- [6]
- [4]
- [1]
- [2]
Which claim do these accounts NOT support, Pia asks?
- Silk was costly
- Cai Lun sold paper to other countries
- Bamboo strips were heavy
- Cai Lun used old fishing nets
Two accounts (Counting Years by the Games)
Account A. [1] The ancient Olympic Games are traditionally dated from 776 BCE. [2] The games were held at Olympia, in Greece, once every four years.
Account B. [3] Each four-year period between the games was called an Olympiad. [4] Greek historians used Olympiads as a unit of time when they dated other events. [5] Each Olympiad was named after the winner of the stadion, a short running race.
Ren reads both accounts. Which claim do they support?
- The games gave Greeks a way to count time
- The games were held in the large city of Rome
- The games were held each year
- The Greeks dated each event by the games
Tala wants evidence that historians used Olympiads. Which sentence shows it best?
- [1]
- [4]
- [2]
- [5]
Which claim do these accounts NOT support, Zee asks?
- The games came once in four years
- Thousands of people watched each race
- An Olympiad was a period of time of four years
- The stadion was a short race