North American societies before 1500: Ancestral Puebloans, Hohokam, Cahokia and the Haudenosaunee

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Chaco Canyon (cards A to E; summaries in our words). Card A, Pueblo Bonito: its first section, about 50 rooms, was built in the 900s. It grew into the largest great house in the canyon, with at least 650 rooms covering almost 2 acres, and parts rose four stories. Card B, tree rings and timber: most of the beams used at Chaco were cut between 1033 and 1092, the peak of building. The timber came from about 200,000 conifer trees, mostly carried on foot from mountains up to 70 miles away. Card C, turquoise and roads: about 200,000 pieces of turquoise have been dug up at Chaco, and workshops made beads there; more than 15,000 beads and pendants lay with two burials at Pueblo Bonito. About six road systems linked the canyon to about 30 outlying sites; some roads ran up to 60 miles and were about 30 feet wide. Card D, the end of the system: Chaco was a major center from about 900 to 1150. The last great house, Wijiji, was built about 1110 to 1115. A 50-year drought began in 1130, the system began to unravel around 1140, and by the end of the century the central canyon buildings had been sealed and left. Card E, today: Hopi and Pueblo peoples regard these places as ancestral homelands and keep oral accounts of migration from Chaco. Since 1981 excavation at the park has been limited, an approach shaped by Hopi and Pueblo beliefs.

2. 1.

   Card A: Pueblo Bonito began with about 50 rooms and grew to at least 650. About how many times as many rooms is that, Ari asks?

   • About one thirteenth as many, since the early section was the smaller
   • 600 times as many, since 650 minus 50 is 600
   • At least 13 times as many, since 650 divided by 50 is 13
   • About 50 times as many, since the first section had 50 rooms
3. 2.

   Card D: Chaco was a major center about 900 to 1150. Card B: most beams were cut 1033 to 1092. What share of the 250 years is the 1033 to 1092 span, Bo asks?

   • About 76 percent, the share of the 250 years outside the span
   • About 4 percent, since 59 divided by 250 is about 0.24
   • About 24 percent, since 59 years is about a quarter of 250
   • About 59 percent, the number of years in the span
4. 3.

   Card B: timber was carried on foot up to 70 miles. At a made-up pace of 14 miles a day, about how many days is that, Esme asks?

   • 56 days, since 70 minus 14 is 56
   • 980 days, since 70 times 14 is 980
   • 14 days, since the pace is 14 miles each day
   • 5 days, since 70 divided by 14 is 5
5. 4.

   Cards B and D give beam dates and a drought. What do they support when read together, Jun asks?

   • The drought of 1130 proves the system fell, since it happened in the same century
   • The beams cut between 1033 and 1092 show when the drought began
   • The unraveling from 1140 caused the drought that began in 1130
   • They fit together, but the cards do not prove a cause
6. 5.

   Card E says Hopi and Pueblo peoples keep oral accounts of migration from Chaco. What can such accounts add that tree rings cannot, Kira asks?

   • The exact calendar year each room was built, to the day it was finished
   • Proof that the drought caused people to leave, which tree rings could not give
   • Accounts from descendants of where people went and what the places mean
   • Nothing, since oral accounts are not evidence about the past
7. 6.

   A student says, "The roads on card C prove Chaco's leaders ruled all 30 outlying sites." Which reply is best, Luz asks?

   • Supported: card C says the roads linked the canyon to about 30 sites
   • Not supported: roads cannot tell anything about a past society
   • Not supported: roads show links, not who ruled the sites
   • Supported: a road system is built by a ruling power alone
8. 7.

   Card E says digging at the park has been limited since 1981. How might an archaeologist and a Pueblo person each see more excavation, Milo asks?

   • A Pueblo person would want more digging, since a nation wants its history dug up
   • Both would want it, since both want more evidence about the past and the place
   • Neither would care, since the buildings are very old and few people live near them
   • One may want more evidence; the other may see digging as disturbing homelands
9. 8.

   Card D says Wijiji was built about 1110 to 1115 and Chaco was a major center until about 1150. What does that show, Pia asks?

   • Building went on until about 1115, some 35 years before 1150
   • The system ended in 1115, when the last great house was finished
   • Building stopped in 900, long before the system ended
   • Wijiji was built after the system had fully unraveled
10. 9.

    Which sentence is best supported by cards D and E together, Ren asks?

    • People left as the system unraveled, and descendants today keep accounts
    • The people of Chaco vanished without any trace or any descendants
    • Chaco was left in 900, when its first rooms were built
    • The drought of 1130 alone caused the move, so no other cause is possible
11. 10.

    Suppose a new study dates one room's beams to 1020. How does that fit card B's "most beams were cut between 1033 and 1092," Zee asks?

    • It contradicts card B, since any date outside 1033 to 1092 is an error
    • It shows the card is wrong about Pueblo Bonito's first rooms
    • It should be thrown out, since beam dates cannot be trusted
    • It fits, because card B says most beams, not all