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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 11

Mesopotamia & Egypt

The first river valley civilizations

What your child practices

Why civilizations grew along the Tigris, Euphrates and Nile, cuneiform and hieroglyphs, Hammurabi's Code, pharaohs and pyramids.

Alaska content standards learning standard: SS.7.2.19.2; SS.7.2.8.2 · Mesopotamia and Egypt, and comparing early laws with laws today

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The first civilizations grew along rivers: the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia) and the Nile (Egypt).
  2. Irrigation brought river water to crops with canals.
  3. Scribes wrote cuneiform on wet clay or hieroglyphs. Hammurabi wrote one of the earliest law codes; pharaohs built pyramids.

Example: What does irrigation mean? Crops need water even when it doesn’t rain. Farmers dig canals to bring river water to fields. Answer: bringing water to crops with canals or ditches

Mesopotamia & Egypt in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 5 of 11 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Trade Networks and before Ancient India & China.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Egyptian picture-writing is called…

    • Hieroglyphs
    • Runes
    • Kanji
    • Cuneiform

  2. Question 2

    What is the name of the writing system of Mesopotamia?

    • Sanskrit
    • Hieroglyphs
    • Cuneiform
    • The alphabet of Rome

  3. Question 3

    Which river flows through ancient Egypt?

    • The Nile
    • The Amazon
    • The Tigris
    • The Indus

  4. Question 4

    The ruler of ancient Egypt was called a…

    • Senator
    • Pharaoh
    • Emperor of Rome
    • Shogun

  5. Question 5

    Why was the Nile's yearly flood helpful?

    • It left rich black soil for farming
    • It froze crops
    • It brought salt water
    • It washed cities away each year

  6. Question 6

    Why do historians call Mesopotamia and Egypt "river valley civilizations"?

    • Both had no rivers
    • Both were in Europe
    • Both were on islands
    • Both depended on great rivers for farming

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