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?
- Storehouses near cities
- Flat steps in slopes
- Grass rope bridges
- Roads between valleys
The cell marked ? is blank. Ari's chart has a blank: where did maize grow?
- In the rainforest and nowhere else
- In lower valleys
- Nowhere in the Andes
- At the highest peaks
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 stop farming on the slopes
- To make the slopes even steeper
Why grow potatoes and quinoa high up, rather than maize, Jun asks?
- Maize grew well on the high peaks
- Potatoes need tropical heat
- Maize could not grow that high
- Quinoa was not a crop
Why would freeze-dried potatoes be good for storing, Kira asks?
- They were stored in rivers
- Dried food is heavier to carry
- Dried food keeps a long time
- 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?
- Saved food helped in bad years
- A wall around the fields
- Food thrown away each year
- Fewer crops were planted
Noah's chain reads: terraces → ? → food stored in qullqas. What fills the blank?
- More food from more farmland
- Storehouses built terraces
- Roads got longer
- Less food grown across the empire
What is known for sure about why Machu Picchu was built, Pia asks?
- It was certainly a city of farmers
- Nothing is known about it
- It is believed to be an estate
- It was certainly a fort
Tala's note says, "Records from the time prove Machu Picchu was Pachacuti's estate." Which fix is right?
- Change "prove" to "historians believe"
- Change "Pachacuti" to "Pachacamac"
- Change "estate" to "road"
- Leave it: records prove it