Compare the four river-valley civilizations

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card B, a museum label written for this sheet: A shaduf is a long pole balanced on a post, with a bucket on one end and a heavy weight on the other. A farmer pulls the bucket down into the Nile, and the weight helps swing it up. The water is then tipped into a ditch that runs to the fields. Card C, a textbook note written for this sheet: Little rain falls in southern Mesopotamia, so farmers there dug canals to carry water from the Tigris and Euphrates to dry fields. Silt from the rivers settled in the canals, and workers had to clear it out again and again. Silt is fine soil carried by a river. When the Nile flooded each year, the silt spread over the fields and made the soil richer for crops.

3. 1.

   Ari compares card A with the museum label. Which civilization used the shaduf, and what did it lift water from?

   • The Indus Valley, lifting water up out of its wells
   • Egypt, lifting floodwater onto the silt left by the Nile
   • Egypt, lifting water from the Nile up into a ditch
   • Mesopotamia, lifting water from the Euphrates into canals
4. 2.

   Card C says little rain falls in southern Mesopotamia. Which problem do cards A and C say the canals solved, Bo asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Rainwater had to be drained off fields that were too wet
   • A yearly flood had to be kept from leaving silt on the fields
   • River water had to reach dry fields that rain did not reach
   • Farmers needed a way to ship grain from city to city by boat
5. 3.

   According to card A, how did the way Egypt got water for its fields differ from Mesopotamia's, Esme asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Both used canals, though Egypt's farmers also used a shaduf
   • Egypt's fields got a yearly flood, while Mesopotamian farmers dug canals
   • Mesopotamia's fields got a yearly flood, while Egyptian farmers dug canals
   • Egypt needed no tools for water, and Mesopotamia needed many
6. 4.

   Card B says a farmer pulls the bucket down into the Nile, then tips the water into a ditch. Why was lifting needed, Jun asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The Nile water carried silt, and lifting it filtered the silt out
   • The river lay lower than the ditch, so the water had to go up
   • The weight was added to keep the bucket from floating off
   • The river lay higher than the ditch, so the weight held water back
7. 5.

   Card C says silt settled in the canals and workers cleared it out again and again. What did that mean for the people who used them, Milo asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Each year the canals washed away and were built new
   • The silt made the canals deeper, so no clearing was needed
   • Farmers gave up and moved away from both rivers
   • Keeping water flowing took steady work year after year
8. 6.

   Noah wants to know how a shaduf worked, step by step. Which card should Noah read first, and why?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • Card C, because it is about water for farming
   • Card A, because it names the tool, which explains how it worked
   • Card A or card C, because a chart or a note says more than a label
   • Card B, because it describes the steps of using the tool
9. 7.

   Card C says the yearly Nile flood spread silt over the fields. Why would Egyptian farmers welcome it, Pia asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • It filled the canals, which then needed clearing
   • It watered the fields without any other tool being used
   • It washed the soil off the fields and into the river
   • It spread rich soil over their fields
10. 8.

    A classmate says card A proves the Indus Valley had no canals. How strong is that claim, Ren asks?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • Weak: card A says the Indus Valley dug canals like Mesopotamia
    • Weak: card A does not mention canals there, which is not proof of none
    • Strong: card A gives canals to Early China and not to the Indus
    • Strong: its row lists wells and reservoirs instead of canals
11. 9.

    Card A says the Indus Valley had planned cities with covered drains. What job would covered drains most likely do, Tala asks?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • Store grain safely for the winter
    • Bring fresh river water into homes from the Indus
    • Water the fields outside the city walls
    • Carry used water away from homes so streets stayed cleaner
12. 10.

    Using card A only, which sentence compares two valleys correctly, Zee asks?

    Use the picture in question 1.

    • Egypt had a tool for lifting water, and the Indus Valley stored water
    • Egypt and the Indus Valley both depended on a yearly flood
    • Egypt and the Indus Valley both dug canals for their fields
    • Egypt stored water in reservoirs, and the Indus Valley used a shaduf