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?
- Flat steps in slopes
- Roads between valleys
- Storehouses near cities
- Grass rope bridges
The cell marked ? is blank. Ari's chart has a blank: where did maize grow?
- At the highest peaks
- In lower valleys
- In the rainforest and nowhere else
- Nowhere in the Andes
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 Why build terraces on mountain slopes, Esme asks?
- To make the slopes even steeper
- To stop farming on the slopes
- To build roads for carts
- To make steep slopes farmable
Why would freeze-dried potatoes be good for storing, Kira asks?
- Dried food keeps a long time
- Dried food is heavier to carry
- They were stored in rivers
- Freezing makes food spoil faster
Why put storehouses along the roads, Luz asks?
- Travelers carried no food
- Roads were the one patch of dry land
- Storehouses replaced roads
- Food could reach where needed
Stored food was a hedge against poor crop years. What does that mean, Milo asks?
- Fewer crops were planted
- A wall around the fields
- Food thrown away each year
- Saved food helped in bad years
Noah's chain reads: terraces → ? → food stored in qullqas. What fills the blank?
- More food from more farmland
- Less food grown across the empire
- Storehouses built terraces
- Roads got longer
What is known for sure about why Machu Picchu was built, Pia asks?
- It is believed to be an estate
- Nothing is known about it
- It was certainly a city of farmers
- It was certainly a fort
Machu Picchu was built about 1450. About how many years ago is that, Ren asks?
- About 575 years ago
- About 57 years ago
- About 3,476 years ago
- About 1,450 years ago
Tala's note says, "Records from the time prove Machu Picchu was Pachacuti's estate." Which fix is right?
- Change "estate" to "road"
- Leave it: records prove it
- Change "Pachacuti" to "Pachacamac"
- Change "prove" to "historians believe"