PencilGo

Grade 9 · Social Studies · World Geography

9th grade How languages and customs spread worksheet

6 printable versionsOn Level10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

Level: Building Confidence · On Level · Challenge Me

When it’s done, scan the sheet with your phone and PencilGo marks it and picks the next one. Create a free account

Version
Print

How languages and customs spread

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Read this first

    Use this

    Card D. Where potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers grow. Before 1500: potatoes are first grown in the Andes, in today's southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia, about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, and are still grown there today; tomatoes and chili peppers are grown in the Americas. 1500s to the 2000s: the Spanish bring potatoes to Europe in the second half of the 1500s, and the potato becomes an essential crop there, especially in the north and east; in the 2000s, potato growing expands fastest in southern and eastern Asia. Tomatoes reach Europe with the Spanish in the 1500s; chili peppers likely reach Africa and Asia with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 1500s. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began.

  2. Jun asks which feature of Card D shows the potato's spread to Europe was expansion, not pure relocation.

    • Potatoes became essential in northern and eastern Europe, which shows the trait spread outward from its source
    • The Spanish brought potatoes to Europe, since people carrying a crop is what makes diffusion expansion
    • In the 2000s potato growing expands fastest in southern and eastern Asia, which shows relocation continuing
    • Potatoes are still grown in the Andes, so the trait stayed strong where it began as it spread outward
  3. Pia looks at how tomatoes, chili peppers and potatoes reached the Old World on Card D. What do the three routes have in common?

    • The three became essential crops in Europe, so each had the same effect on the places it reached
    • All three crossed from the Americas in the 1500s with Spanish or Portuguese carriers
    • The three crossed in the 1500s because the Spanish liked their taste, so taste explains the shared date
    • The three reached Asia in the 1500s, so each spread there at the same speed as it did in Europe
  4. Bo says the potato's diffusion ended once it reached Europe. Which fact on Card D most directly weakens that?

    • In the 2000s potato growing expands fastest in southern and eastern Asia, centuries after it reached Europe
    • Potatoes were first grown in the Andes 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, long before they reached Europe
    • Tomatoes reach Europe with the Spanish in the 1500s, so the same process was still going on for other crops
    • The potato becomes an essential crop in northern and eastern Europe, which shows it kept spreading within Europe
  5. Milo writes a sentence about chili peppers using Card D. Which sentence stays within what the card says?

    • Chili peppers probably reached Africa and Asia with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 1500s
    • Chili peppers reached Africa and Asia before tomatoes reached Europe, since traders went to more places
    • Chili peppers spread across Africa and Asia in the 2000s, as the potato did in southern and eastern Asia
    • Chili peppers reached Africa and Asia with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 1500s, as the card shows
  6. Use this

    Card E. Where our numerals are used. 1st to 4th centuries: Indian mathematicians invent a numeral system with ten signs, zero to nine. 1200s to 1500s: Al-Khwarizmi's writings in Arabic have made the system widely known; Fibonacci's book Liber Abaci (1202) helps spread it in Europe; until printing in the 1400s, its use in Europe is mainly in northern Italy; printed books then carry it across Europe. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began.

  7. Zee describes the numerals' spread in Europe from Card E. Which description fits both the 1200s and the 1400s?

    • The numerals spread through Europe in the 1200s because Al-Khwarizmi's Arabic writings were already known
    • Printing in the 1400s made northern Italy the first place in Europe to use the numerals
    • Liber Abaci carried the numerals across Europe in the 1200s, since the book was the cause of their spread
    • Use stayed mainly in northern Italy after 1202; printed books carried it across Europe in the 1400s
  8. Use this

    Card E. Where our numerals are used. 1st to 4th centuries: Indian mathematicians invent a numeral system with ten signs, zero to nine. 1200s to 1500s: Al-Khwarizmi's writings in Arabic have made the system widely known; Fibonacci's book Liber Abaci (1202) helps spread it in Europe; until printing in the 1400s, its use in Europe is mainly in northern Italy; printed books then carry it across Europe. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began. Card D. Where potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers grow. Before 1500: potatoes are first grown in the Andes, in today's southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia, about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, and are still grown there today; tomatoes and chili peppers are grown in the Americas. 1500s to the 2000s: the Spanish bring potatoes to Europe in the second half of the 1500s, and the potato becomes an essential crop there, especially in the north and east; in the 2000s, potato growing expands fastest in southern and eastern Asia. Tomatoes reach Europe with the Spanish in the 1500s; chili peppers likely reach Africa and Asia with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 1500s. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began.

  9. Ren compares what traveled in Card E with what traveled in Card D. Which statement is supported?

    • Both began in India, so India is where they spread from to the whole Old World
    • Numerals traveled as an idea in writings and books; the crops traveled as plants that people carried
    • The numerals spread by relocation, because Indian mathematicians moved to Europe and carried them there
    • Both spread in the 1500s, once ships and printing presses had made long-distance travel possible
  10. Use this

    Card F (made up for practice). The board game Quillo, invented in the port of Dunmore in year 0. First played in: Port Alba, 20 km along the coast (year 5); Port Brenn, 90 km along the coast (year 8); the capital, Corvan, 150 km along the coast (year 12); and Hill Town, a village-size town 30 km inland (year 25). Corvan is the largest city on the island. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began. Hierarchical diffusion passes a trait from larger places or people to smaller ones; contagious diffusion passes it from person to person, nearest first;.

  11. Esme tests "a trait reaches nearer places before farther ones" on Card F. Which place breaks it?

    • Hill Town, 30 km inland, which got Quillo in year 25, after places 90 km and 150 km away
    • Port Brenn, 90 km along the coast, which got Quillo in year 8, after Port Alba at 20 km
    • Corvan, 150 km away, which got Quillo in year 12, after both Port Alba and Port Brenn
    • Port Alba, 20 km away, which got Quillo in year 5, the earliest of the places
  12. Noah asks which model best explains why Hill Town came last in Card F, and what it adds to nearest-first spread.

    • Contagious diffusion alone: Quillo reached the nearest places first, so Hill Town's 30 km should have come before the ports
    • Hierarchical diffusion: the largest city, Corvan, got Quillo in year 12, before the nearer village-size town
    • Stimulus diffusion: Hill Town took up the idea of the game in a changed form, which delayed its arrival
    • Relocation: players who left Dunmore carried Quillo to Hill Town last, which is why the date is late
  13. Luz says: "Quillo spread by contagious diffusion, so every place got it after the one before." What does Card F show against this?

    • Nothing, because a made-up island cannot test a real model of diffusion
    • Port Alba, which got Quillo at year 5 before Port Brenn at year 8 even though both are on the coast
    • Corvan, the capital, which got Quillo in year 12 after the two ports nearer to Dunmore
    • Hill Town, nearer to Dunmore than Port Brenn or Corvan, got Quillo after both, so nearest-first fails there
  14. Use this

    Card F (made up for practice). The board game Quillo, invented in the port of Dunmore in year 0. First played in: Port Alba, 20 km along the coast (year 5); Port Brenn, 90 km along the coast (year 8); the capital, Corvan, 150 km along the coast (year 12); and Hill Town, a village-size town 30 km inland (year 25). Corvan is the largest city on the island. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began. Hierarchical diffusion passes a trait from larger places or people to smaller ones; contagious diffusion passes it from person to person, nearest first;. Card D. Where potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers grow. Before 1500: potatoes are first grown in the Andes, in today's southern Peru and northwestern Bolivia, about 7,000 to 10,000 years ago, and are still grown there today; tomatoes and chili peppers are grown in the Americas. 1500s to the 2000s: the Spanish bring potatoes to Europe in the second half of the 1500s, and the potato becomes an essential crop there, especially in the north and east; in the 2000s, potato growing expands fastest in southern and eastern Asia. Tomatoes reach Europe with the Spanish in the 1500s; chili peppers likely reach Africa and Asia with Portuguese and Spanish traders in the 1500s. Note: in relocation diffusion people carry a trait to a new place as they move. In expansion diffusion a trait spreads outward while staying strong where it began.

  15. Tala compares Quillo's order on Card F with the chili pepper's on Card D. What is a fair comparison?

    • No comparison is possible, because Quillo is a game and the chili pepper is a crop, so the two cannot be tested alike
    • Both follow nearest-first, since each went first to the places that traders and sailors reached from the coast
    • The chili pepper spread faster than Quillo did, because trade routes make a crop travel faster than a game
    • Quillo's dates by place can test nearest-first, but Card D gives the chili pepper only a century, so it cannot
PencilGopencilgo.com

9th grade How languages and customs spread worksheet – printable
Print: 123456

About this worksheet

How languages and customs spread. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can read Ethnologue counts of language families and the largest languages and tell first-language from total speakers, and speakers from number of languages.
  • I can type a spread of crops and numerals as relocation, expansion or hierarchical diffusion from what the card says, and test the nearest-first idea against dated places on a made-up game.
  • I can say where contagious, hierarchical and stimulus diffusion fit or fail for jazz, basketball and a made-up newspaper, and correct a note that names the wrong model.

Standard: D2.Geo.7.9-12

Common mistakes

Your child mixed up total speakers and first-language speakers. Total includes second-language speakers.

Your child used first-language speakers where total speakers were asked. Total adds second-language speakers.

Your child misjudged a share or a ratio. Work out the part over the whole.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with how languages and customs spread?

Your child mixed up total speakers and first-language speakers. Total includes second-language speakers.

Are these 9th grade social studies worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

More world geography

See all World Geography

Every sheet you scan goes into your child’s record: dated, marked and ready for the year-end portfolio. Homeschool records