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?
- At the highest peaks
- In lower valleys
- Nowhere in the Andes
- In the rainforest and nowhere else
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 steep slopes farmable
- To build roads for carts
- To make the slopes even steeper
- To stop farming on the slopes
Why grow potatoes and quinoa high up, rather than maize, Jun asks?
- Maize could not grow that high
- Potatoes need tropical heat
- Quinoa was not a crop
- Maize grew well on the high peaks
Why would freeze-dried potatoes be good for storing, Kira asks?
- Dried food is heavier to carry
- Freezing makes food spoil faster
- Dried food keeps a long time
- They were stored in rivers
Why put storehouses along the roads, Luz asks?
- Food could reach where needed
- Roads were the one patch of dry land
- Storehouses replaced roads
- Travelers carried no food
Stored food was a hedge against poor crop years. What does that mean, Milo asks?
- A wall around the fields
- Fewer crops were planted
- Saved food helped in bad years
- Food thrown away each year
Noah's chain reads: terraces → ? → food stored in qullqas. What fills the blank?
- Storehouses built terraces
- Roads got longer
- More food from more farmland
- Less food grown across the empire
What is known for sure about why Machu Picchu was built, Pia asks?
- It was certainly a fort
- Nothing is known about it
- It was certainly a city of farmers
- It is believed to be an estate
Machu Picchu was built about 1450. About how many years ago is that, Ren asks?
- About 57 years ago
- About 575 years ago
- About 3,476 years ago
- About 1,450 years ago