The Aztec: Tenochtitlan, floating gardens and tribute
Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.
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Tenochtitlan, an island city
Topic What we know Founding ? The island little more than a swamp, without drinkable water or stone and wood for building Chinampas farm plots built up in the shallow lake: fenced squares filled with mud until they rose above the water; farmers tended them by canoe Fresh water long stone channels, called aqueducts, brought fresh water into the city Size one of the largest cities in the world at the time; estimates of its people differ (one source gives nearly 300,000) The cell marked ? is blank. Below the chart: the people called themselves the Mexica; later historians called them the Aztec. Chinampas only seem to float.
Luz's chart has a blank: when and where was Tenochtitlan founded?
- 1325, beside the sea
- 1428, high in the Andes
- 1521, on the ruins left by the Spanish
- 1325, on an island in Lake Texcoco
Milo's chart has a blank: what were chinampas?
- Farm plots built up from mud in the lake
- Stone channels for water
- Rafts that floated freely around the lake
- Terraces cut into mountains
Tenochtitlan, an island city
Topic What we know Founding in 1325 the Mexica settled an island in Lake Texcoco and founded Tenochtitlan The island little more than a swamp, without drinkable water or stone and wood for building Chinampas farm plots built up in the shallow lake: fenced squares filled with mud until they rose above the water; farmers tended them by canoe Fresh water long stone channels, called aqueducts, brought fresh water into the city Size one of the largest cities in the world at the time; estimates of its people differ (one source gives nearly 300,000) Below the chart: the people called themselves the Mexica; later historians called them the Aztec. Chinampas only seem to float.
Pia reads that the people called themselves the Mexica. Who were the Mexica?
- The people later called the Aztec
- The Spanish soldiers who came in 1519
- A kind of farm plot
- A lake in Mexico
Tala reads that chinampas only seem to float. Why do they seem to float?
- They are made of wood rafts
- They drift around the lake
- They sink each night
- They rise just above the water
In what year was Tenochtitlan founded, Zee asks?
- 1521
- 1428
- 1235
- 1325
What did the island lack, by the chart, Ari asks?
- Mud and water plants
- Drinkable water, stone and wood
- A lake around it
- People willing to farm
How did farmers reach the chinampas, Bo asks?
- By canoe
- By road
- By horse
- By wheeled cart
Why did the Mexica build chinampas, Esme asks?
- Chinampas were for fishing
- The lake was much too deep to farm in
- Their island had little dry farmland
- The Spanish asked them to
Why did the city need aqueducts, Jun asks?
- Aqueducts carried tribute
- The island had no drinkable water
- Farmers needed canoes
- The lake water was too clean to need channels
Why does the chart give an estimate, not one exact number, for the city's people, Kira asks?
- The city was very small
- No one lived there
- The number is exactly known
- Estimates of the size differ