7Th Grade Mid Term Social Studies Review Sheet
Name______Date______Period______
7th Grade Social Studies Review Sheet
Review #1: Geography and the Social Sciences:
· Primary Sources: firsthand accounts from the time when the event took place (ex. photographs, journals/diaries, newspapers, letters, autobiographies, etc.)
· Secondary Sources: accounts created long after the event took place (ex. textbooks, documentaries, encyclopedias, biographies, etc.)
· Culture is a society’s total way of life – religion, food, clothing, traditions, language, etc.
· Social Sciences study PEOPLE and how they interact with each other and the earth.
o Economics – study of MONEY – how wealth and goods are produced, distributed and used.
o Archeology – study of artifacts (the remains of past civilizations)
o Geography – study of the earth (landforms) and how people use it
· Five Themes of Geography:
o Location – where something is located. Could be ABSOLUTE (exact – latitude/longitude), or RELATIVE (approximation compared to other things)
o Place – How you describe a place/what makes it unique
o Human-Environment Interaction – How we affect the environment and how the environment affects us.
o Movement – how people, things, and information get from place to place
o Region – how we divide the earth for study.
· Climate is the average weather of a place over a 20-30 year period
· Environment is everything that surrounds living things; Culture is affected by environment
Review Questions #1
1. The study of the Earth and its features is known as (A) economics, (B) archeology, (C) geography, (D) anthropology.
2. The study of the way goods and wealth (money) are produced, distributed and used is known as (A) economics, (B) archeology, (C) geography, (D) anthropology.
3. The study of evidence left behind by early peoples is known as (A) economics, (B) archeology, (C) geography, (D) anthropology.
4. Which document is considered a primary source? (A) a textbook account of the War of 1812, (B) a personal diary kept by a child who works in a factory, (C) an encyclopedia article about the Iroquois Confederacy, (D) a biography of the life of Harriet Tubman.
5. Which document is considered a secondary source? (A) a textbook account of the Civil War, (B) a letter written by a nurse in the Civil War,(C) a personal diary kept by a soldier traveling with Francisco Pizarro,
(D) a photograph taken of pioneers traveling along the Oregon Trail.
6. Which phrase most accurately defines the term culture? (A) the artifacts left by ancient peoples, (B) the interaction of plants and animals within a natural environment, (C) a way of life shared by members of a society, (D) a firsthand account of an event.
7. Mountains, hills, plains, and plateaus are examples of (A) landforms, (B) mineral resources, (C) vegetation, (D) political barriers.
8. Differences in the types of foods people eat, clothing people wear, and shelters people build all show that (A) the environment affects how and where people live, (B) governments tell citizens what to do, (C) geography has no effect on culture, (D) people living in different places do not trade with each other.
Review #2: Native American Indians:
· The First Americans:
o Social scientists believe that the first Americans crossed the Bering Land Bridge (Beringia) from Asia
o They arrived sometime during the last Ice Age (50,000 – 10,000 BC) and migrated south throughout North and South America
o They were most likely following the migrating animal they hunted (“follow the food”)
· Civilizations:
o Maya and Aztec (Central/Mesoamerica; Present-day Mexico)
o Inca (South America; Andes Mountains)
o More ADVANCED societies – stone temples and pyramids, systems of writing, understanding of astronomy, etc.
· Many different groups in North America – divided into cultural regions based on how they adapted to their environment:
o Arctic (Inuit/Eskimos),
o Northwest Coast,
o Southwest (desert),
o Great Plains (buffalo hunters),
o Southeast,
o Northeast/Eastern Woodlands (where we live – Iroquois and Algonquian)
· Food, clothing, and shelter varied depending on the environment.
· Iroquois Confederacy/Iroquois League/League of Five Nations:
o PRESENT-DAY New York State
o a political union of 5 - later 6 - member nations (Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora)
o Worked together for peace, protection, and trade.
o Iroquois lived in longhouses made of wood with several other families; matrilineal; women chose the chiefs but could not be the chiefs. Enemy of the Algonquian.
Review Questions #2
1. Native Americans migrated to North America about 12,000 years ago from (A) South America, (B) Vinland, (C) Asia, (D) Africa.
2. Many anthropologists believe that people from Asia crossed a land bridge to North America to (A) escape religious persecution, (B) hunt migrating animals, (C) capture native peoples of this region, (D) search for gold and other riches
3. One way in which the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayas were similar is that they (A) traveled to the Western Hemisphere from Africa, (B) had developed advanced civilizations before the arrival of Columbus, (C) settled in the arctic regions of North America, (D) left no evidence to help us understand their cultures
4. Inuits wore clothing made of seal and caribou skins. Pueblos wore clothing made of woven cotton. Algonquins wore clothing made of deerskin. These differences in clothing were most likely the result of (A) traditional religious practices, (B) available natural resources, (C) rules set down by tribal leaders, (D) competing customs in fashion
5. What was the name of the Indian confederacy that dominated New York? (A) Cherokee, (B) Iroquois, (C) Mayan, (D) Sioux.
6. The main purpose of the Iroquois Confederation was the (A) development of fur trade with the English settlers, (B) adoption of a two-house legislature, (C) military protection and trade, (D) the sale of land to European colonists.
7. An example of migration is (A) the movement of dad from the couch to the bathroom, (B) the movement of Rover from the house to the yard, (C) the movement of you from social studies to lunch, (D) the movement of early humans from Asia to the Americas.
8. Bringing water to farmland by means of ditches or pipes is known as (A) Columbian Exchange (B) agriculture, (C) irrigation, (D) canals.
9. Corn, the most important crop grown by Native Americans, is also known as (A) circumnavigate, (B) myth, (C) maize, (D) yummy.
10. Rectangular dwellings that Iroquois families lived in were called (A) longhouses, (B) wigwams, (C) colonies, (D) missions.
11. Which statement provides evidence that Native American Indians adapted to their environment? (A) The Pueblos developed an irrigation system for farming. (B) The many tribes of the Great Plains spoke different languages. (C) The Maya made great advances in mathematics. (D) The Delaware used oral tradition to retell their history.
12. Where were the Maya and Aztec empires located? (A) Canada, (B) southeastern United States, (C) Central America, (D) southwestern Europe
13. Which adaptation to the environment is illustrated by the Iroquois use of the longhouse? (A) buffalo for clothing and shelter, (B) horses for transportation, (C) trees as building materials, (D) iron for tools and weapons
14. Many different native cultures developed in North America primarily because (A) Native American Indians worshiped many gods, (B) Native American Indian groups did not trade with each other, (C) hunting for food was an important activity, (D) a variety of environmental conditions existed throughout this region.
Review #3: Exploration and Colonization:
· Vikings, from Scandinavia, were the first Europeans to reach North America around 1000 AD. Leif Eriksson established the colony of Vinland in present-day Canada.
· Causes of European Exploration:
o wanted spices and silks from Asia after getting a taste during the Crusades (a series of holy wars between the Christians and Muslims over control of the Holy Land)
o nations competed to find the fastest route to Asia
o better navigational tools (compass, astrolabe, etc.)
· Christopher Columbus (1492)
o sailed for King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain
o sailed WEST across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to reach ASIA (East Indies)
o Instead he arrived in the Caribbean (West Indies/Bahamas).
· Other explorers would follow – Spain claimed and colonized huge amounts of land in North, Central, and South America.
o Conquistadors – Spanish explorers who searched for the 3G’s: Gold, God, and Glory (Balboa, Cortez (conquered Aztecs), Pizarro (conquered Inca), Coronado, Ponce de Leon, etc.)
o Spain: First PERMANENT US settlement – St. Augustine, Florida
· Columbian Exchange: the exchange of plants, animal and diseases between the Americas and Europe, Asia, and Africa. Diseases killed more Native Americans than slavery or war.
· French, Dutch (The Netherlands), and English explorers searched for the NORTHWEST PASSAGE – an all-water route through North America; it doesn’t exist.
· French colonized Canada (St. Lawrence River) and explored the Mississippi River (claimed Louisiana) – made most of their money from the fur trade
· Dutch colonized New Netherlands (present day New York State) and established the busy port of New Amsterdam (NYC). Peter Stuyvesant – Dutch governor – would hand over the colony to England. It is renamed New York.
· African slaves were brought to the Americas to work in Spanish, Dutch and English colonies
Review Questions #3
1. What was the purpose of the Crusades? (A) Find a “Northwest Passage” to America, (B) Explore the African coast for an all water route to Asia, (C) Drive the Muslims out of the area called the “Holy Land” by Christians, (D) Stop the Vikings or Norsemen from their terrorizing attacks on Europe.
2. What was Columbus searching for when he landed in the Bahamas in 1492? (A) A western water route to Asia, (B) The New World, (C) Africa, (D) Atlantis
3. Spanish soldiers who explored the new world for fame and wealth were called (A) seadogs, (B) patriots, (C) conquistadors, (D) indentured servants.
4. During the 1500’s many explorers from European nations searched the North American coastline for the “Northwest Passage”. In theory, this corridor provided (A) a route around Africa to Asia, (B) an all water route through North America to Asia, (C) the longest river in South America, (D) a manmade waterway that connects the Great Lakes to New York City.
5. The Columbian Exchange refers to the (A) exchange of plant, animals and disease between the Americas and Asia, Europe and Africa, (B) exchange of present after our birthdays, (C) exchange of cultures between the Native Americans and Europeans, (D) the exchange of technology between the Native Americans and Europeans.
6. A settlement created by new residents in an area is known as a (A) mission, (B) colony, (C) joint-stock company, (D) plantation
7. Large farms that usually specialized in growing one type of crop are called (A) missions, (B) plantations, (C) longhouses, (D) colonies.
8. To be self-sufficient is to be (A) unable to survive without your parents, (B) self-confident and secure in being who you are, (C) capable of providing for yourself without the help of others, (D) dependent on others for everything.
9. Religious settlements established in Spanish America are (A) forts, (B) plantations, (C) missions, (D) governments.
10. Reformers who protested some practices of the Catholic Church and formed their own religion are (A) Quakers, (B) Conquistadors, (C) Politicians (D) Protestants.
11. The Northwest Passage is (A) an all water route through North America that doesn’t exist, (B) an all-water route around the African continent to Asia, (C) an all-water route from Canada to Mexico. An all-land route across the Rocky Mountains.
12. Which is a primary source for evidence that Columbus sailed to find a new route to the Indies in 1492? (A) a television show about the explorations of Columbus, (B) a letter from the current ambassador from Spain describing the voyage, (C) a painting showing Columbus landing in the New World, (D) a diary entry written by a crew member aboard Columbus’ ship.
13. Which development led to the other three? (A) Columbus landing in Hispañola, (B) founding of the Jamestown colony, (C) thousands of Native American Indians dying from new diseases, (D)Europeans using both tobacco and potatoes.
14. Early European explorers who came to the New World were looking for a northwest passage in order to (A) prove the world was round, (B) improve trade with Native American Indians, (C) explore the Great Lakes, (D) find a shorter route to Asia.
15. What was the major cause of death among Native American Indians after contact with Spanish explorers? (A) relocation, (B) disease, (C) slavery, (D) starvation
16. Christopher Columbus wanted to reach Asia by (A) Finding the Northwest Passage, (B) Sailing around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, (C) Sailing west across the Atlantic Ocean, (D) Sailing around the tip of South America
17. All of the following were effects of the voyages of Columbus EXCEPT (A) Spain set up colonies, (B) Many Native Americans lost their land and died of disease (C) European explorers searched for the Northwest Passage, (D) The Crusades began.
18. What were the most profitable ways of making a living in New France? (A) fishing and fur trading, (B) mining for gold and silver, (C) commercial farming of tobacco and rice, (D) milling and manufacturing.
Review #4: Thirteen English Colonies:
· Established colonies along the Atlantic Coast (East Coast) of the USA
· First attempt – Roanoke. Colony failed, settlers disappeared
· First PERMANENT ENGLISH settlement – Jamestown (1609)
o Formed by the Virginia Company of London (joint stock company)
o Had many problems: fighting, no women, swamps, bad drinking water, no one wanted to work – always searching for gold, inexperience.
o John Smith (No Work, No Food) and the planting of tobacco (John Rolfe) save the colony.
· Plymouth Colony – Massachusetts
o Pilgrims came on Mayflower looking for religious freedom
o Mayflower Compact – first attempt at self-government in the colonies