Download chapter-4-notes-with-sample

Name:
Date:
65-71
Mesopotamia:
Cradle of Civilization
You know the drill! After reading pages 65-71 in your socials text book Ancient Worlds 7, answer the
following questions to help you build and organize your notes. Feel free to fill in your notes using your
own words but make sure you answer each question fully, carefully, and most importantly accurately! This
package and others like it become your study packages for unit tests like the one we just had!
1) Why was Mesopotamia created where it was? What made this area such a great place
for a civilization to live?
-Fertile crescent for farming
-Between rivers for irrigation
-Rivers provided transportation (trade and travel by boat)
-Near Delta: hunting and building supplies
2) What is the Fertile Crescent? What makes it so fertile?
Mesopotamia was built on an area known as the fertile crescent which is a flood-plain
between rivers. When the water floods each year, nutrients are settled into the land from
the waters silt and debris. This leaves the land very fertile and a great place to farm.
3) What is a Delta? How is it formed? How did the presence of a delta make life easier
for the ancient people of Mesopotamia?
-A delta is an area where a river meets the ocean. When this happens the speed of the
water slows down and all the dirt and silt suspended in the water drops forming a natural
muddy dam where animals can live
-Provided hunting (many animals live there) as well as reeds for papyrus and other
construction supplies
4) What is a climate? What was the climate like in Mesopotamia?
-The weather patterns and temperature of an area over time (at least a year)
-The climate of Mesopotamia was hot and dry
5) How did the climate of Mesopotamia effect the lives of those living in the area?
Provide both positive and negative effects.
-Positive: hot and sunny is good weather for growing crops. Also no need for excessive
clothing or complicated structures.
-Negative is over watering is needed which results in capillary action (salting of the soil
so nothing can grow).
6) Explain the benefits and drawbacks of living in a flood plain:
Benefits: natural fertilizer for land every year. Drawback: area floods where you live!
7) What does Irrigation mean? Why was it important?
-Irrigation is: watering of farmland with complex systems like dikes, dams, ditches ect..
-It is important because it allows for mass farming. Water can be taken or diverted from
rivers to water large crops.
8) How did the ancient Mesopotamians use the following technologies to assist their
irrigation efforts?
Dams:
-Wall or blockage of a natural water way. Allows for control of water (flow and location)
-Structure that stops water
Dikes:
-Stone or solid wall which builds up the river’s edge so when it floods, the water doesn’t
go over the sides of the river
Ditches and Canals:
Used to divert water to water crops or prevent seasonal floods from entering settled areas
9) What is Capillary action? How did this end up forcing people to move away from
Mesopotamia? (diagram on page 71)
-Over watering of farm soil brings salt from beneath the earth up to the surface. Nothing
can grow in salty soil.
-The people created too much capillary action and their farm land was useless. The
people starved and moved on. Much of the city was abandoned because it could no
longer support great numbers.
10) Fill in the chart below:
Word
Definition
Flood Plain
An area that is
flooded each year due
to rivers in the area
Domesticate
-Make useful/tamed for
human use (refers to
animals)
-To use animals/plants
for human usefulness
Dike
-Stone or solid wall
which builds up the
river’s edge so when
they flood it doesn’t go
over the sides of the
river
Example Sentence
Picture
The farms below my school are
sitting on a flood plain
If we domesticate the wild
horse, we can use it on our
farm.
The dike built along the Frazer
river keeps it from flooding in
the spring.
10) As Mesopotamia grew it experienced ‘growing pains’. Explain some of the problems
that came about as a result of Mesopotamia’s population increase (pg 71)
-As more people became settled in ancient Mesopotamia, the need for more food
followed.
-Excessive farming in a hot, dry climate creates Capillary Action
-The salt destroyed the farm land, and people starved or moved on.