The Inca: mountain roads, terraces and the quipu
Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet
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Circle the best answer.
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Farming and storing food in the Andes
Topic What we know Terraces flat steps built into rugged mountain slopes to make more land for farming Crops potatoes and quinoa; maize grew in lower valleys but not at the highest places Stored food freeze-dried potatoes (chuño), maize and quinoa, kept in storehouses called qullqas along roads and near cities Machu Picchu built about 1450, high in the mountains; it is believed to have been an estate of the ruler Pachacuti, though no written records from the time confirm it What were terraces, Zee asks?
- Roads between valleys
- Grass rope bridges
- Storehouses near cities
- Flat steps in slopes
The cell marked ? is blank. Ari's chart has a blank: where did maize grow?
- In the rainforest and nowhere else
- At the highest peaks
- Nowhere in the Andes
- In lower valleys
Farming and storing food in the Andes
Topic What we know Terraces flat steps built into rugged mountain slopes to make more land for farming Crops potatoes and quinoa; maize grew in lower valleys but not at the highest places Stored food freeze-dried potatoes (chuño), maize and quinoa, kept in storehouses called qullqas along roads and near cities Machu Picchu built about 1450, high in the mountains; it is believed to have been an estate of the ruler Pachacuti, though no written records from the time confirm it What were qullqas, Bo asks?
- Grass bridges
- Terraces on slopes
- Relay runners
- Roadside storehouses
Why build terraces on mountain slopes, Esme asks?
- To make the slopes even steeper
- To make steep slopes farmable
- To build roads for carts
- To stop farming on the slopes
Why grow potatoes and quinoa high up, rather than maize, Jun asks?
- Maize could not grow that high
- Quinoa was not a crop
- Potatoes need tropical heat
- Maize grew well on the high peaks
Why put storehouses along the roads, Luz asks?
- Travelers carried no food
- Storehouses replaced roads
- Food could reach where needed
- Roads were the one patch of dry land
Stored food was a hedge against poor crop years. What does that mean, Milo asks?
- Food thrown away each year
- Saved food helped in bad years
- A wall around the fields
- Fewer crops were planted
Noah's chain reads: terraces → ? → food stored in qullqas. What fills the blank?
- Less food grown across the empire
- More food from more farmland
- Roads got longer
- Storehouses built terraces
What is known for sure about why Machu Picchu was built, Pia asks?
- It is believed to be an estate
- It was certainly a fort
- It was certainly a city of farmers
- Nothing is known about it
Tala's note says, "Records from the time prove Machu Picchu was Pachacuti's estate." Which fix is right?
- Change "prove" to "historians believe"
- Leave it: records prove it
- Change "Pachacuti" to "Pachacamac"
- Change "estate" to "road"