Download Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies Sixth Grade Social Studies

Haynes Academy for Advanced Studies
Sixth Grade Social Studies Exam Review Guide
Review the ICS sheets and vocabulary from chapters 1 – 7 (The World). Study daily challenges and notes
you have taken throughout the semester. All ICS are posted as attachments on my Wiki for your
convenience.
I
II




Be able to identify the beliefs and holy books of the religions we have studied this semester.
What religions are monotheistic? Which ones are polytheistic?
Know the resources of each civilization. Give examples of cultural diffusion from each civilization.
Be able to explain the differences between a direct democracy and a representative democracy.
Be able to identify and locate rivers of ancient civilizations on a map including: (Tigris-Euphrates, Huang
He (Yellow River), Indus River, Ganges River, Nile River
III
Complete the study guide attached. You will be given time in class to work on this packet with a partner or
individually to help you study for the exam. We will review all of these concepts thoroughly over the next
few of weeks. YOUR JOB IS TO START STUDYING NOW. Tutoring – Every Tuesday-2nd half lunch
IV
Be sure you know the following contributions and importance of each culture and ancient
civilization we have studied this semester:
Chapter 1

Early Man
Stone Age – Early clothing (animal hides) - Hunters and Gatherers - Nomads

Early Farmers – Agricultural Revolution - Surplus agriculture – Slash and burn farming –

Establishment of the early civilizations around the Tigris/Euphrates, Nile, and Indus River
Valleys. All provided a good source for water and fertile soil for a steady food supply.

Primary - first hand (photograph, diary) and secondary sources (book, encyclopedia) – Be
able to explain the difference.

Be able to locate the longitude and latitude of a location.
Chapter 2
Mesopotamia – The Fertile Crescent – First Emperor – Sargon - Assyria - Babylon

Sumer - The invention of wheel and the plow

Sumerians - System of writing – Cuneiform

Importance of written language (Before writing is considered prehistory.)

King Nebuchadnezzar - Hanging Gardens of Babylon Assyrians –

Hammurabi (Babylonian leader) – Code of Hammurabi First written laws for order and
taxation – Believed in equal justice (fair treatment)

Israelites – First to believe in monotheism – Torah - Worship in a synagogue

CULTURAL DIFFUSION - Phoenicians – alphabet – Phoenician Purple Lydians –


Chapter 3


Monotheism – Judaism (Jewish), Christians (All Christian religions), Islam (Muslims) - All
three religions claim Jerusalem as their holy land.
Barter and Money economy – Know the differences – benefits of one over another
Africa (Longest river in the world is the Nile River.)
Egypt – The Nile Valley – Fertile Soil – Flooding of the Nile – led to oldest known calendar
with 365 days to track the flooding of the Nile River (Opet Festival)-Silt
Upper and Lower Egypt Uniting – Importance: Unification marked the beginning of
organized government representing one group of people.

Papyrus - Made from reeds and used to write on a paper-like material

Hieroglypics – Ancient Egyptian writing


Rosetta Stone- Found in the Nile Delta by a French soldier – Two Egyptian forms of
writing and one Greek
Amon-Re – Sun god – most important to the Egyptians –

Ramses the Great

Hatshepsut

King Tut

Khufu – Great Pyramid of Giza

Other Contributions of Egypt: Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx

Kushites – Meroe was one of the earliest centers for ironworking in Africa due to the rich
iron ore found beneath the rocks. Iron was used for weapons and tools.
Chapter 4 - Very Early India and China

Indus Valley – Monsoon winds out of the Indian Ocean

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa –Two of the largest cities in Indus Valley – Advanced sewer
system and drainage system
Seals used for marking trade goods for early civilization including Sumer and Indus Valley.


Huang He River known as the Yellow River or River of Sorrows (Loess gave the Huang He
its yellow color.)
Civilization developed around the Huang He River Valley because of fertile soil/water

Silk – Highest product in demand from the Chinese. Recognize Chinese writing. (p145)

Mayans, Aztecs, Incas – Slash and burn farming to clear heavy forests to grow crops

Intercropping – Growing two or more types of crops together -Olmecs used intercropping

to make the best possible use of the small amount of fertile soil they had.

Tikal – The largest Mayan city deep in the jungle of Guatemala.
Chapter 5
China (Comes from the word, Qin (pronounced Chin)

Importance of Silk and The Silk Road to the Chinese people and for trade

Shang Dynasty – First Chinese Dynasty – Farming – Jade- Yu the Great

Zhou Dynasty


Qin Shi Huangdi - Ruled using Legalism




Mandate of Heaven - Confucianism (Analects) Filial Piety
Great Wall of China- Kept invaders from the North out and warned of upcoming
invasions
Unification of China - The Road System and standardization of weights and
measures helped to unify China.
Han Dynasty –
 Paper, Printing (not the printing press)
 Seismograph –
 Silk Road was created to enhance trade with India and central Asia and ended at
the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.
Daoism
Chapter 6 – India
o Aryans brought horses to India.

Hinduism – Language is Sanskrit – Vedas (Holy Book) - Reincarnation - Caste System
Three main gods: Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer

Buddhism - Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, the Enlightened One –Noble Eight Fold PathNirvana – Buddha spread his ideas through fables. (Examples on pages 198 – 202)
o Chandragupta united India – Harsh Rule – Hinduism
o Ashoka (grandson) – Adopted Buddhism, a more peaceful way of living after the battle of
Kalinga.
o Persian Empire – Aryans who settled further west of India (Iran)
 Conquered Babylonians and Egyptians and formed a huge empire.
 Cyrus the Great
 Darius the Organizer
Chapter 7 – Greece – Pericles – Great leader of Athens 
Early Greeks - olive oil, wool, and wine – Location near the Mediterranean Sea made Greece
a perfect trade center.

Minoans – Built great palaces (Palace of Knossos) - Painting of dolphins one of many
paintings that decorated the Queen’s Room in the palace.

Mycenaeans – Warlike people, measured wealth by the amount of weapons they owned

Olive – Large export and economic source for Greeks

Athens – (Direct democracy) vs Rome (Representative Democracy) – Know the difference.

Herodotus (famous Greek historian)

City states – Athens (More cultural and educated) Sparta (Physically fit for war)

Greece – Epic poet, Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey –

Hellenic – refers to Greek – Greeks had a strong cultural identity.

Parthenon – Most remarkable building during the Golden Age of Athens to honor the Greek
goddess Athena

Olympics

Be able to recognize Greek letters (most similar to the English alphabet).

Pericles – Golden Age of Athens – Supported a strong Athenian democracy that was
started by Cleisthenes.

Be able to identify the three different Greek columns.
(Doric,

Ionic, Corinthian)
Alexander the Great – Became king of Macedonia at 20 and later Greece.
o Conquered parts of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. He kept a strong
sense of Greek cultural identify (Hellenistic) among the Greeks.
o Famous for conquering lands over three continents and his EMPIRES.