Landforms, water and resources of the Middle East and North Africa

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A (map key, Egypt). A green strip follows the Nile from Aswan in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north, then fans out into the Nile Delta. Tan desert lies on both sides of the strip. The map note says most of Egypt's people live in the green parts. Yearly rainfall, rounded: Cairo 25 mm; Alexandria, on the coast, 210 mm (1991-2020 averages).

2. 1.

   How much more rain does Alexandria get in a year than Cairo, Pia asks?

   • 210 mm
   • 235 mm
   • 25 mm
   • 185 mm
3. 2.

   A student claims: "Egypt gets enough rain to farm without the Nile." How well does Card A support that, Zee asks?

   • Poorly: Cairo gets only about 25 mm, and the farmland follows the river
   • Well: Alexandria gets 210 mm, so rain could water farms across the whole country
   • Poorly: the farms bring the water to the river, which is why the strip is green
   • Well: the green strip on the map shows rain falling evenly along Egypt

4. Use this

   No rivers cross it, and rain is rare.

6. 3.

   Why are there almost no towns in the Empty Quarter, Tala asks?

   • The squares on the card sit in the south, so towns cluster in that desert
   • It is a sand desert, and dunes are too steep for people to cross
   • It has no towns, which is why no rivers ever formed there
   • It has no rivers and little rain, so people cannot get enough water
7. 4.

   Which fact on Card B best explains how oil reaches buyers overseas, Milo asks?

   Use the picture in question 3.

   • Squares mark cities, and cities near oil fields buy the oil themselves
   • No rivers cross the Empty Quarter, so oil cannot travel by river barge
   • The fields lie near the coast, and tanker ships and pipelines carry the oil away
   • Buyers overseas are what make the oil form under the ground near the coast
8. 5.

   A student claims: "Most Saudi people must live in the Empty Quarter, since it is so big." How well is that supported, Jun asks?

   Use the picture in question 3.

   • Well: black dots mark oil fields, and dots mean that many people live there
   • Well: the biggest region of a country holds the biggest share of its people
   • Well: Card B names the Empty Quarter, so people must live in it
   • Poorly: Card B puts cities on the coasts and around springs, not in the Empty Quarter

9. Use this

   Card C (diagram of an oasis). Rain falls on hills far from the oasis. The water soaks into rock and flows slowly underground. In a low spot in the desert, the underground water reaches the surface as a spring. Date palms and small fields grow in a ring around the spring, and the sand beyond is bare. Siwa Oasis in Egypt is fed this way.

10. 6.

    Where does the oasis water first come from, Kira asks?

    • A river that flows past the oasis on the surface
    • The low spot, where the water reaches the surface as a spring
    • The palm trees, which make the water that gathers in the low spot
    • Rain that fell on hills far away and soaked into the ground
11. 7.

    Why do the palms and fields grow in a ring around the spring, Bo asks?

    • Water soaks into rock and travels far underground before it ever appears
    • The plants dig the spring, and the ring shows where roots have spread
    • Plants need water, and the spring is the one place in the desert that has enough
    • The card says the sand beyond is wet, so plants could grow anywhere

12. Use this

    Card D (rainfall, yearly average, rounded, 1991-2020). Rabat, on the Atlantic coast: 520 mm. Marrakesh, inland on the north side of the Atlas Mountains: 220 mm. Ouarzazate, on the south side of the Atlas Mountains: 115 mm. Winds carry moist air from the Atlantic Ocean toward the Atlas Mountains.

13. 8.

    What happens to the rainfall as you go from Rabat inland to Marrakesh and then to Ouarzazate, Noah asks?

    • Rabat is on the coast, and coasts sit close to the Atlantic Ocean
    • It rises at each step, since the mountains hold the rain
    • It stays near 220 mm, since Marrakesh is the city in the middle
    • It drops from 520 mm to 220 mm to 115 mm, so each step is drier
14. 9.

    Why might Ouarzazate be drier than Marrakesh, Esme asks?

    • The Atlas Mountains stop the rain completely, so places south stay dry
    • Dry air from Ouarzazate crosses the mountains and dries out Marrakesh
    • The Atlas Mountains lie between it and the moist Atlantic air, which loses rain first
    • Rabat gets the most rain of the three cities on the card
15. 10.

    How much less rain does Ouarzazate get in a year than Rabat, Ari asks?

    • 300 mm
    • 405 mm
    • 635 mm
    • 115 mm