Grade 5: Social Studies Ch. 1

Question 1

Artifacts

Answer 1

Objects made by early people

Example: huts, digging sticks, and even child’s footprint

Question 2

Civilization

Answer 2

A culture that usually has cities with well-developed kinds of government, religion, and learning

Question 3

Environments

Answer 3

Surroundings

Question 4

Nomads

Answer 4

People with no permanent home

Question 5

Traditions

Answer 5

Way of life or idea that has been handed down from the past

Question 6

Theory

Answer 6

An idea based on study and research

Question 7

How did changes in climate affect the lives of the earliest people in the Americas

Answer 7

Changes in climate affected their food source.
After the ice age, the climate was cool and damp which grew many plants that fed large animals.
The earliest people hunted these large animals for food and clothes.

When it became warmer and drier, the plants no longer grew and the large animals became extinct.
So they had to find other ways to find food, like hunting small animals and eating plants. They started gathering food and storing them away in baskets.

Where climates produced fertile land, Indians also began farming by planting seeds and growing food.

Question 8

Why can the Olmec, Mayan, Mound Builder, and Ancient Puebloan cultures be described as advanced civilizations (give examples)

Answer 8

Olmec first developed the calendar and counting system so that they know when the rainy season is to help water their crop.

Maya developed writing system based on hieroglyphs (picture symbols).

Mount Builders built mounts as tall as 90 feet tall.

Ancient Puebloans built homes with many floors and rooms where you can only enter from the roof using a ladder.

They also made waterproof baskets that are used for storage and cooking food.

Question 9

Coastal Plain - Explain the locations of each landform region

Answer 9

Coastal Plain begins along the coast of Massachusetts as a narrow strip of land no more than 10 miles wide.

It gets wider farther south, near Florida. From Florida, it extends west along the Gulf of Mexico into Texas and the country of Mexico.

Question 10

Interior Plain - Explain the locations of each landform region

Answer 10

Stretches across the middle of United States from the Appalachian Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.

Most of the land is flat with many rivers and streams.
Interior Plain has the Mississippi River and Great Lakes

Question 11

Intermountain Region - Explain the locations of each landform region

Answer 11

Intermountain means “between the mountains”
Between the Rocky Mountains on the east and other mountains farther west is a large area of dry land.

Part of this land is the Great Basin, which includes Nevada and parts of 5 neighboring states.
A basin is a low bowl-shaped land with higher land all around it.

Southwest of the Great Basin lies Death Valley, California, which is the lowest point in North America (250 feet below sea level)

Question 12

Piedmont - Explain the locations of each landform region

Answer 12

Piedmont means “at the base of a mountain”

It begins in New Jersey and extends as far as Alabama

Question 13

Use Latitude and Longitude to find an exact location on a map

Question 14

Olmec - Explain characteristics of the following cultures

Answer 14

Olmec lived near river. They used river to travel between cities and build a trade system.

They also developed a counting system and calendar to keep track of the seasons because they depend on the rainy season to water their crops.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
- lived by river
- counting system 
- calendar (for rainy season)

Question 15

Maya - Explain characteristics of the following cultures

Answer 15

Maya lived in a tropical climate (that was hot and humid).

They developed their own writing system based on hieroglyphs (picture symbols) and used a counting system.

Maya were divided into social classes (group of people that have something in common).
Religious leaders were at the top of the social class. Then came families, traders and farmers.
______________________
- tropical climate
- writing system (hieroglyphs)
- social classes (religious leader ruled)

Question 16

Mount Builders - Explain characteristics of the following cultures

Answer 16

Group of American Indians tribes that build mounds made of earth.

Adena Indians used mounds for burials; where it’s bigger mounds reached 90 feet tall.

Hopewell Indians developed a trading system from the Rocky Mountains to Lake Superior.

Mount builders lived in very large cities, like Cahokia in Mississippi, which had more than 30,000 people.

Religious leaders ruled the city and its surroundings.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
- mounds from earth
- trading system
- large cities

Question 17

Ancient Puebloans - Explain characteristics of the following cultures

Answer 17

Ancient Puebloans who lived in the area called the Four Corners (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico)
The climate was hot and very dry.

They lived in houses that had many floors and many rooms build against canyon walls or caves (called ‘pueblo’ – village)
They used ladders to enter their home from the roof in case enemies attack.

They farmed maize, beans and pumpkins and stored extra maize in storage rooms for hard times.
They were expert basket makers. The baskets were waterproof and were used for storage and cooking food.
______________________
- climate hot and very dry
- lived in pueblo (many floors & rooms) using ladder
- waterproof basket used for storage & cooking

Question 18

Be able to read a timeline