How languages and customs spread
Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.
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Card G. Where jazz is played. Early 1910s: New Orleans jazz begins, mixing brass band marches, ragtime and blues with group improvisation. 1917 to the 1920s and after: the first jazz recordings are made early in 1917; the 1920s become known as the Jazz Age; jazz spreads around the world, and musicians in many countries mix it with their own music, making new styles. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Noah says jazz's spread around the world was contagious diffusion. What on Card G strains that claim?
- Recordings (first made in 1917) could reach far-off listeners without person-to-person contact
- Musicians in many countries mixed jazz with their own music, which shows contact between players
- Jazz began in New Orleans, so it must have spread outward from New Orleans, which is how contagious spread works
- The 1920s Jazz Age shows jazz was popular, and a popular trait spreads through contact with its fans
Ari asks which model Card G's "musicians in many countries mix it with their own music" fits best.
- Hierarchical diffusion, because jazz moved from big cities to smaller places, which is how new music usually spreads
- Relocation, because musicians carried jazz to their countries as they moved, so the trait traveled with them
- Stimulus diffusion, because the idea was taken up in changed forms that mix jazz with local music
- Contagious diffusion, since it spreads person to person and the new styles show contact among musicians
Luz writes: "Recordings made jazz spread around the world." What fits Card G best?
- The note is wrong, because jazz spread around the world in the early 1910s, before any recordings
- The note is right, because the card places the first recordings in 1917 and the spread afterward
- Nothing can be said, since a single card cannot give an order of events or show what came before what
- The dates put the first recordings (1917) before the spread, but the card does not say they caused it
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Card H. Where basketball is played. 1891 to 1895: in December 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, invents basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts; it spreads quickly through the United States and Canada; by 1895 it is well established at several women's high schools. 1932 to today: FIBA, the international basketball federation, is founded in 1932 by eight nations; basketball is an Olympic sport from 1936; today it is one of the world's most popular sports, with a World Cup. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Tala asks which fact on Card H best shows organizations, not person-to-person contact, carrying basketball abroad.
- Basketball spread quickly through the United States and Canada, which shows how it passed from one organization to the next
- Naismith invented basketball in Springfield in December 1891, which shows where an organization began it
- By 1895 it was well established at several women's high schools, which are organizations spreading it to other nations
- FIBA was founded in 1932 by eight nations, and basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936
Pia writes: "Basketball shows contagious diffusion because it spread fast." What is the best correction using Card H?
- The note is right for the United States and Canada, so it must be right for the nations that joined FIBA
- Fast spread is hierarchical, so the note should say basketball moved from large places to small ones
- Speed is not the test: contagious means person to person, nearest first, which FIBA and the Olympics are not
- It spread fast because of FIBA, so the note is wrong about speed but right that organizations drove it
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Card G. Where jazz is played. Early 1910s: New Orleans jazz begins, mixing brass band marches, ragtime and blues with group improvisation. 1917 to the 1920s and after: the first jazz recordings are made early in 1917; the 1920s become known as the Jazz Age; jazz spreads around the world, and musicians in many countries mix it with their own music, making new styles. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form. Card H. Where basketball is played. 1891 to 1895: in December 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, invents basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts; it spreads quickly through the United States and Canada; by 1895 it is well established at several women's high schools. 1932 to today: FIBA, the international basketball federation, is founded in 1932 by eight nations; basketball is an Olympic sport from 1936; today it is one of the world's most popular sports, with a World Cup. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Bo compares jazz and basketball on Cards G and H. Which statement is supported?
- Each spread by the same model, since each began in one place and each reached the world
- Jazz needed no carrier, because music spreads by itself from any country that loves it
- Basketball spread first in the 1890s, so jazz must have copied the route it took around the world
- Each began in one US place and later reached many nations, but the cards give each a different carrier
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Card I (made up for practice). Newspapers in Tamaria. Year 1: a Tamarian printer sees a newspaper from another country and prints a weekly in Tamarian script, with local stories and poems instead of the foreign paper's columns and advertisements. Years 2 to 10: six more Tamarian weeklies appear in nearby towns, each started by someone who read the first one. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Milo asks how the idea of the newspaper reached Tamaria in year 1 on Card I. Which model fits?
- Hierarchical diffusion: the idea passed from a larger country to a smaller one, which is what the printer's move shows
- Stimulus diffusion: the printer took up the idea of a newspaper but changed it to suit Tamaria
- Relocation: the foreign newspaper's printers moved to Tamaria and carried the trait with them
- Expansion: the foreign newspaper stayed strong in its own country while the idea spread outward to Tamaria
Zee asks which model fits years 2 to 10 on Card I, when six more weeklies appear in nearby towns.
- Stimulus diffusion again, because each weekly takes up the idea of a newspaper in a changed form
- Relocation: the first weekly's printer moved to each of the six towns and set up a paper
- Contagious diffusion: each of the six weeklies was started by someone who read the first one, in nearby towns
- Hierarchical diffusion: the six towns are smaller than the first, so the idea passed from larger to smaller
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Card I (made up for practice). Newspapers in Tamaria. Year 1: a Tamarian printer sees a newspaper from another country and prints a weekly in Tamarian script, with local stories and poems instead of the foreign paper's columns and advertisements. Years 2 to 10: six more Tamarian weeklies appear in nearby towns, each started by someone who read the first one. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form. Card G. Where jazz is played. Early 1910s: New Orleans jazz begins, mixing brass band marches, ragtime and blues with group improvisation. 1917 to the 1920s and after: the first jazz recordings are made early in 1917; the 1920s become known as the Jazz Age; jazz spreads around the world, and musicians in many countries mix it with their own music, making new styles. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Kira compares Tamaria's newspapers (Card I) with jazz abroad (Card G). What do both show about stimulus diffusion?
- In both, the idea came from the same place, which explains why both took a changed form
- In both, the original form stayed the same everywhere, which is why stimulus diffusion is easy to spot
- In both, the changed form spread faster than the original, which explains why they became popular
- In both, the idea was taken up and changed to fit local ways: script and stories, or local music
Use this
Card H. Where basketball is played. 1891 to 1895: in December 1891, James Naismith, a physical education instructor, invents basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts; it spreads quickly through the United States and Canada; by 1895 it is well established at several women's high schools. 1932 to today: FIBA, the international basketball federation, is founded in 1932 by eight nations; basketball is an Olympic sport from 1936; today it is one of the world's most popular sports, with a World Cup. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form. Card I (made up for practice). Newspapers in Tamaria. Year 1: a Tamarian printer sees a newspaper from another country and prints a weekly in Tamarian script, with local stories and poems instead of the foreign paper's columns and advertisements. Years 2 to 10: six more Tamarian weeklies appear in nearby towns, each started by someone who read the first one. 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; stimulus diffusion takes up the idea in a changed form.
Ren writes: "Basketball and Tamaria's newspapers both show stimulus diffusion." What is the best correction using Cards H and I?
- The note is right for both, because each card shows an idea that spread to new places
- The note is wrong for both, because one invented case cannot show a model and one real case needs more dates
- The note is right for basketball, because FIBA and the Olympics adapted the game for each nation
- Card I shows a changed form, so stimulus fits Tamaria; Card H shows no changed form for basketball