6th grade Compare the four river-valley civilizations worksheet

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?

   • Mesopotamia, lifting water from the Euphrates into canals
   • 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
4. 2.

   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.

   • 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
   • Both used canals, though Egypt's farmers also used a shaduf
5. 3.

   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 river lay higher than the ditch, so the weight held water back
   • The weight was added to keep the bucket from floating off
6. 4.

   Which statement about Early China does card A support, Kira asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • It was known for planned cities with covered drains
   • Its farmers had fertile soil but faced frequent floods
   • The other three valleys relied on a yearly flood to leave silt
   • Its farmers dug canals the way Mesopotamian farmers did
7. 5.

   Card A names a civilization known for bronze cast in clay molds. Which river ran through it, Luz asks?

   Use the picture in question 1.

   • The Nile
   • The Tigris and Euphrates
   • The Indus
   • The Yellow River
8. 6.

   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.

   • The silt made the canals deeper, so no clearing was needed
   • Keeping water flowing took steady work year after year
   • Farmers gave up and moved away from both rivers
   • Each year the canals washed away and were built new
9. 7.

   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 B, because it describes the steps of using the tool
   • 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
10. 8.

    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 spread rich soil over their fields
    • It washed the soil off the fields and into the river
    • It watered the fields without any other tool being used
    • It filled the canals, which then needed clearing
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
    • Water the fields outside the city walls
    • Carry used water away from homes so streets stayed cleaner
    • Bring fresh river water into homes from the Indus
12. 10.

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

    Use the picture in question 1.

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