Greek ideas that last: philosophy, mathematics, theater and buildings

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card I (sources, adapted from modern translations). Source 1, Aristotle: "All human beings by nature desire to know." Source 2, Plato's dialogue Apology, in which Socrates speaks: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Note: Plato wrote the dialogue after the events it describes, and Socrates left no writing. Aristotle collected careful observations of animals and plants; Plato often reasoned about ideas and definitions.

2. 1.

   Which claim do Sources 1 and 2 together support, Luz asks?

   • Both Aristotle and Plato's Socrates value seeking knowledge and asking questions
   • Aristotle thought questions were useless, while Socrates thought they were the key to everything
   • Socrates wrote that the unexamined life is not worth living, so he valued writing
   • Aristotle and Socrates believed the same things about each subject
3. 2.

   Source 2 gives words spoken by Socrates in a dialogue by Plato. What should a reader remember, Jun asks?

   • Aristotle collected careful observations of animals and plants
   • The words are exactly what Socrates said, since Plato was a student who copied them
   • Socrates wrote the dialogue himself, so the words come straight from him
   • Plato wrote the words, so they may show Plato's view of Socrates as much as his own
4. 3.

   Aristotle observed animals; Plato often reasoned about ideas. What might that suggest about how they pursued knowledge, Ari asks?

   • Aristotle alone sought knowledge, since Plato's ideas were not about the world
   • They agreed on method, since both men wanted to know, as Source 1 says
   • Plato looked closely at animals, while Aristotle worked just with ideas
   • Aristotle looked closely at the world, while Plato began from ideas

5. Use this

   Card J (two sources, the theater at Epidaurus). Source 1, a travel brochure (invented): "Sit in the top row and you can hear a coin drop on the stage." Source 2, a university acoustics study: the rows of stone seats act like a filter, so they soften low background noise from the crowd and let higher-pitched voices from the stage carry. The study does not say what the builders knew.

6. 4.

   Which source better explains why sound carries at Epidaurus, and why, Esme asks?

   • Source 1, because stories of a coin drop are more detailed than a study can be
   • Source 1, because a brochure is written by people who know the site well
   • Source 2: a study tests how the seats shape sound, while a brochure advertises
   • Source 2, because it tells us what the ancient builders knew about sound
7. 5.

   According to Source 2, how does the shape of the seats help voices reach the top rows, Bo asks?

   • The rows of stone work like a filter, softening low crowd noise so voices can carry
   • The seats make the crowd's low noise louder, so voices from the stage are drowned
   • A visitor in the top row can hear a coin drop on the stage, as the brochure says
   • Voices bounce off the crowd, which softens the sound before it reaches the stage
8. 6.

   A student claims: "The ancient builders must have planned the seats to filter sound." How strong is that, Tala asks?

   • Strong: the seats filter sound, so the builders must have meant them to
   • Strong: the brochure says the sound is excellent, so the plan is certain
   • Weak: the seats do not filter sound, so the builders could not have planned it
   • Weak: the study shows the effect but not what the builders knew or planned

9. Use this

   Card K (a chart of past and present). Euclid's Elements: the method of proving each statement from earlier ones. Modern geometry class: students prove that the angles of a triangle add to 180 degrees by reasoning from earlier rules. Greek theater: outdoors, in daylight, in a hillside, with masks. Modern school play: indoors, at night, with lights and a flat stage. English "theater" comes from Greek theatron.

10. 7.

    Compare a Greek play with a modern school play on Card K. What changed, and what continues, Milo asks?

    • Both use masks and a hillside, so nothing about staging has changed
    • Modern plays have nothing in common with Greek plays, since the staging is so different
    • Greek plays were indoors at night and modern plays are outdoors in daylight
    • Staging changed from outdoor daylight to indoor lights, but plays for seeing continue
11. 8.

    A student claims: "Nothing from ancient Greece affects school today." How does Card K bear on that, Zee asks?

    • It supports the claim: the Greek theater is gone, so nothing from Greece remains
    • It weakens the claim: school geometry uses proof, and the word theater is Greek
    • It supports the claim: the modern school play is indoors, unlike Greek theater
    • It weakens the claim: Greek schools took proof from modern geometry classes

12. Use this

    Card L (timeline, BCE: a bigger number is earlier). The Parthenon was finished in 432. Plato's Academy was founded about 387. Aristotle's Lyceum was founded in 335. Euclid worked about 300. Eratosthenes measured Earth about 240.

13. 9.

    About how many years passed between the Parthenon's finish and Euclid's work, Kira asks?

    • About 132 years, with Euclid working first
    • About 300 years
    • About 732 years
    • About 132 years
14. 10.

    A student lists the events earliest first: Academy, Parthenon, Lyceum, Eratosthenes. How well is that order supported, Pia asks?

    • Well: 387 is a bigger number than 432, so the Academy is earliest
    • Poorly: the Parthenon (432) came before the Academy (387), so they are out of order
    • Poorly: BCE dates cannot be put in order, since the years are approximate
    • Well: the card lists the Academy before the Parthenon, so that is the order