Sumer and Babylon: city-states, irrigation, cuneiform and written law

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Land between two rivers

   Feature	What it is	Why it mattered
   Tigris and Euphrates rivers	two rivers that run through Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq	water for farms and a route for boats
   Irrigation canals	?	carried water to crops in a dry land
   City-states	cities, each with its own government and farmland	farm towns grew into busy trading cities

   The cell marked ? is blank.

2. 1.

   Jun's chart has a blank: what are irrigation canals?

   • Channels dug from the rivers to fields
   • Walls of mud brick built around the city
   • Clouds that bring rain to fields
   • Two rivers in modern Iraq
3. 2.

   Kira's chart has a blank: what were city-states?

   • Cities, each with its own government
   • Two rivers
   • Channels to the fields
   • One country with one ruler

4. Land between two rivers

   Feature	What it is	Why it mattered
   Tigris and Euphrates rivers	two rivers that run through Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq	water for farms and a route for boats
   Irrigation canals	channels dug from the rivers to the fields	carried water to crops in a dry land
   City-states	cities, each with its own government and farmland	farm towns grew into busy trading cities

5. 3.

   Luz reads that Mesopotamia is a Greek name. What does it mean?

   • Land of the sea
   • Land between rivers
   • Land of high mountains
   • Land of deserts
6. 4.

   Milo reads the word irrigation. What does it mean?

   • Waiting for rain to water crops
   • Bringing water to crops through channels
   • Planting seeds in rows
   • Storing grain for winter
7. 5.

   Noah reads that Sumer was divided into city-states. What is a city-state?

   • A city that governs itself and its land
   • A street inside a city
   • A state with no cities
   • A river between two cities
8. 6.

   Southern Mesopotamia has a dry climate. Why did farmers dig canals, Pia asks?

   • To carry river water to dry fields
   • Because rain flooded the fields daily
   • To keep boats away from farms
   • To drain the rivers dry
9. 7.

   Canals brought water to more fields. What was one effect, Ren asks?

   • The rivers moved to the canals
   • Farmers could grow more crops
   • Rain began to fall more often
   • Farmers needed fewer fields
10. 8.

    Mesopotamia's two rivers flow toward which body of water, Zee asks?

    • The Indian Ocean, by way of India
    • The Atlantic Ocean, to the west
    • The Arctic Ocean, to the north
    • The Gulf, to the southeast
11. 9.

    Most of Mesopotamia lies in which modern country, Ari asks?

    • Italy
    • India
    • Egypt
    • Iraq
12. 10.

    Where do the Tigris and Euphrates have their headwaters, Bo asks?

    • In the Gulf, to the south
    • In the desert, far west
    • In highlands to the north
    • In the city-states