Social Studies Assessments
Sixth Grade
H1.1.1 Explain why and how historians use eras and periods as constructs to organize and explain human activities over time.
1. The castle-like buildings found in the Pacific Region show the influence of which of Canada’s founding peoples?
A. Asian immigrants
B. British settlers
C. French colonies
D. Native Americans
Answer: B
2. Why are so many different languages spoken in each Canadian region?
A. Because much of Canada is rural.
B. Canada attracted settlers from many different countries, namely France and England.
C. Because most Canadians live near the U.S. border.
D. Because Canada is the world’s largest country.
Answer: B
H1.1.2 Compare and contrast several different calendar systems used in the past and present and their cultural significance (e.g., Olmec and Mayan calendar systems, Aztec Calendar Stone, Sun Dial, Gregorian calendar – B.C./A.D.; contemporary secular – B.C.E./C.E. Note: in 7th grade Eastern Hemisphere the Chinese, Hebrew, and Islamic/Hijri calendars are included).
1. Evidence has been found that the Ancient Egyptians had a way to tell time. People even earlier in history might also have been able to tell time. These people probably used a device which measured time based on the position of the
A. moon.
B. earth.
C. ocean.
D. sun.
Answer: D
2. AZTEC VS. MAYAN CALENDARS
The Aztec Calendar was similar to that of the Maya. The ritual day cycle was called Tonalpohualli and was formed by a cycle of numerals 1 through 13 with a cycle of 20 day names, many of them similar to the day names of the Maya. Where the Aztec differed most significantly from the Maya was in their number system and in their less precise way of recording dates. Normally, they noted only the day on which an event occurred and the name of the current year. The same day can occur twice in a year because of their number system. Years of the same name recur at 52-year intervals. Other errors in the records are only partially explained by the fact that different towns started their year with different months.
According to the excerpt, which of these were similarities between the Mayan and Aztec calendar?
A. Different towns used different calendars
B. Accuracy in recording dates
C. Names of the days on the calendar
D. Number systems on the calendar
Answer: C
· Most widely used calendar in the world· Based on movement of the sun
· Seven days in a week
· Breaks the year into 365 days
3. Which of the following is described in the box?
A. Gregorian calendar
B. Islamic calendar
C. Egyptian calendar
D. Aztec calendar
Answer: A
H1.2.1 Explain how historians use a variety of sources to explore the past (e.g., artifacts, primary and secondary sources including narratives, technology, historical maps, visual/mathematical quantitative data, radiocarbon dating, DNA analysis).
1. Which civilization created the Sun Stone, a national symbol of pride in modern Mexico?
A. Maya
B. Aztec
C. Inca
D. Mongolian
Answer: B
2. These items belonged to a Native American tribe that lived in the American Southwest. In the center are a mortar and a pestle for grinding grain. To the left and right of these are two sets of tools called metates and manos, which are also used for grinding. The small circular items, called donuts, may have been used to straighten arrows.
What do these artifacts tell you about the Native Americans who used them?
A. They used wooden tools for most tasks.
B. The women did the cooking while the men hunted.
C. They carved canoes to use for fishing.
D. They made their tools out of stone.
Answer: D
3. Which of these Native American cultures existed in the Eastern Woodlands?
A. Olmec
B. Illinois
C. Caddo
D. Comanche
Answer: B
4. Which of the following is described in the box?
· Most widely used calendar in the world· Based on movement of the sun
· Seven days in a week
· Breaks the year into 365 days
A. Egyptian calendar
B. Aztec calendar
C. Gregorian calendar
D. Islamic calendar
Answer: C
H1.2.2 Read and comprehend a historical passage to identify basic factual knowledge and the literal meaning by indicating who was involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led to the development, and what consequences or outcomes followed.
1. Christopher Columbus is given credit for discovering the New World, but was he really the first person to step foot in this new land? What about the Native Americans? What about Leif Ericson? Or what about Americus Vespucci?
About 20,000 years ago, the first Native Americans came over a land bridge between Asia and North America. This bridge was over 1,000 miles wide. In 1492, when Columbus sailed, about 1 million American Indians lived in the United States and Canada, and about 20 million Indians lived in South America.
In 1000 A.D., Vikings from Norway traveled from Iceland to Greenland. They were led by Eric the Red. Eric the Red founded a colony on Greenland. Later his son, Leif Ericson, led a group to Newfoundland in Canada. Unfortunately, no maps were made of these travels. However, in 1965, a Viking map dated 1440 was found. The Viking map showed parts of northeastern Canada.
About the same time Columbus was making his third voyage, another explorer sailed for North America. His name was Americus Vespucci. Vespucci made maps of his travels. A German school teacher who was writing a new geography book found these maps. The school teacher called the New World “America” in honor of Vespucci.
According to the passage, who was the first to discover America?
A. Americus Vespucci
B. Christopher Columbus
C. Leif Ericson
D. Native Americans
Answer: D
2. Leif Ericsson, Christopher Columbus, Jacques Cartier, and the brothers John and Sebastian Cabot are the most famous European transatlantic explorers. But who were the first across? Two Irish scholars, Mr. Moon and Mr. Ashe, have recently suggested that their early forefathers were the first.
These two historians claim that early in the eighth century, monks and lay brothers of the Celtic Church left Ireland for Faroe. About the year 770, however, Norwegian Vikings attacked and colonized Faroe, Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides or Western Isles. The invaders were ruthless, and the Celts who survived escaped to Iceland in small boats, taking with them their religious objects and writings and their tools.
In their new homeland, they fished, raised sheep, and grew a few vegetables in the poor soil. Then, one stormy day in 874, a Danish trader named Gardar found shelter in a cove and spent the winter there. When he went home, he told of his discovery. Eleven years later, two Norwegian men named Ingolf and Hjorlaf arrived with a number of Viking sailors, wanting to settle there.
The Celts didn’t want to live with the Norwegians, so they packed their things again. Setting off in their boats, they left their homes forever and sailed to Cape Breton (in what is now Nova Scotia, Canada). If this story is true, they were the first white men to reach America. Nobody knows for sure where on Cape Breton Island they settled, but two young Eskimos who were kidnapped in 1016 by a Scandinavian named Karlsefi told their kidnapper they had seen men dressed in white who walked around singing loudly, carrying poles with pieces of cloth attached. This confirmed a report made by a Scandinavian named Thorvald 10 years before.
In Account 2, which of the following is evidence to suggest that the Celts were the first to reach America?
A. The Danish trader Gardar’s story of meeting the Celts in Iceland.
B. The Eskimos’ sighting of men dressed in white in the year 1016.
C. The arrival in Iceland of two Norwegian men named Ingolf and Hjorlaf.
D. The Viking attack and colonization of Faroe in the year 770 A.D.
Answer: C
3. From Chronicles of the Incas by Pedro de Cieza de Léon, 1540
“At the beginning of the new year the rulers of each village came to Cuzco, bringing their quipus [knots], which told how many births there had been during the year, and how many deaths. In this way the Inca and the governors knew which of the Indians were poor, the women who had been widowed, whether they were able to pay their taxes, and how many men they could count on in the event of war, and many other things they considered highly important.”
According to this author, the Inca used quipus (knots of thread) to do which of the following?
A. To tell stories and Incan legends
B. To play various children’s games
C. To keep records of their people
D. To make new construction tools
Answer: C
H1.2.3 Identify the point of view (perspective of the author) and context when reading and discussing primary and secondary sources.
1. Analyze the passage below. Who do you think wrote it?
Hernando Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico in 1519. As soon as he heard about the fabulous riches of the Aztec Empire, he made a daring plan to conquer it. Within two years, the Spanish destroyed the powerful Aztec Empire. How did a tiny Spanish force defeat the Aztecs?
Many factors helped Cortes. First, the Aztec emperor Montezuma hesitated to fight the Spanish. He believed that Cortes was the god-king Quetzalcoatl, returning as he promised he would. Second, Cortes won allies among the people the Aztecs had conquered. Their armies strengthened the Spanish forces. Third, smallpox and other diseases that Europeans brought to the Americas killed thousands of Aztecs.
A. A member of Cortes’ army
B. Hernando Cortes
C. Montezuma
D. A modern historian
Answer: D
2. This painting was made in 1774. The caption reads, “The Bostonian’s Paying the Excise-Man (tax collector), or Tarring and Feathering.” The tree in the background is labeled “Liberty Tree.”
This picture was most likely painted by someone who
A. thought the American patriots were cruel.
B. was a trader or merchant in the colonies.
C. thought that England’s taxes were unfair.
D. was a member of an American Indian tribe.
Answer: A
3. This lithograph shows onlookers waving their hats during the Boston Tea Party. What attitude or feeling is the artist trying to convey?
A. Shame
B. Excitement
C. Sadness
D. Humor
Answer: B
4. In this image from the Industrial Revolution, the photographer shows children working in a factory and wearing ripped clothing. What is the reason he chose to feature these boys in the picture?
A. To show the true hardship of the time.
B. To show the benefits of industry.
C. To encourage more children to work.
D. To show the laziness of people on the job.
Answer: A
H1.2.4 Compare and evaluate competing historical perspectives about the past based on proof.
1. The following is a description of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, written in 1520:
This city has many public squares, in which are situated the markets and other places for buying and selling. There is one square twice as large as that of the city of Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes, where are daily assembled more than sixty thousand souls, engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of merchandise that the world affords, for instance articles of food, as well as jewels of gold and silver, lead, brass, copper, tin, precious stones, bones, shells, snails, and feathers.… There are all kinds of green vegetables, especially onions, leeks, garlic… fruits also of numerous descriptions, amongst which are cherries and plums, similar to those in Spain.
Which of these best indicates that this passage was written by someone from Spain?
A. It makes reference to Spain and the Spanish city of Salamanca.
B. It shows the Aztecs as simple-minded people who cannot trade.
C. It describes goods like gold and silver, which are only found in Spain.
D. It assumes that the reader understands Aztec customs and beliefs.
Answer: A
2. From Slave Cabin to the Pulpit: The Autobiography of Rev. Peter Randolph (1825-1897)
When my father died, he left my mother with five children. We were all young at the time, and mother had no one to help take care of us. Her lot was very hard indeed. She had to work all the day for her owner and at night for those who were dearer to her than life. She used to get a little corn, without the owner’s knowledge, and boil it for us to satisfy our hunger. As for clothing, Edloe (our owner) would give us a coarse suit once in three years; mother sometimes would beg the cast-off garments from the neighbors, to cover our nakedness; and when they had none to give, she would sit and cry over us and pray to the God of the widow and fatherless for help. At last, my oldest brother was sold from her and carried where she never saw him again. She went mourning for him all her days, like a bird robbed of her young--like Rachel bereft of her children, who would not be comforted because they were not. She departed this life on the 27th of September, 1847, for that world “where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.”
Transcript of a letter from the son of an Alabama slave owner:
Jan. 25, 1913
H.C. Nixon Esq
Merrellton Ala.
Dear Sir:
Replying to your letter of 22nd concerning slavery, I have to say: my Father was the largest slave owner in this (DeKalb) County.