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3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 10

Greece & Rome

Democracy, republic and law

What your child practices

Athens and Sparta, direct and representative democracy, the Roman Republic and Empire, and the Greek and Roman ideas found in US government.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3.4.22.1; 3.4.19.1 · how ancient Greece and Rome shaped the world we live in

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Athens had direct democracy: citizens voted on laws themselves.
  2. Rome became a republic, where citizens elected leaders. The Twelve Tables were its first written laws.
  3. Ideas like voting, a senate and written laws are part of US government today.

Example: In a republic, who makes most laws? In direct democracy, every citizen votes on laws. In a republic, citizens elect people to do it. Answer: elected representatives

Greece & Rome in Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards, this is unit 7 of 10 in 3rd grade Social Studies, after Ancient India & China and before Time & Evidence.

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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

    Plato and Aristotle were…

    • Chinese inventors
    • Greek philosophers
    • Roman emperors
    • Egyptian pharaohs

  2. Question 2

    Why was the Mediterranean Sea important to Rome?

    • It was a desert
    • It blocked all travel
    • It was a route for trade and armies
    • It was frozen

  3. Question 3

    Greek columns, theater and the Olympics are examples of…

    • Roman laws
    • Egyptian tombs
    • Chinese inventions
    • Greek ideas that are still used today

  4. Question 4

    Why did Greece develop many separate city-states instead of one kingdom?

    • They spoke many languages
    • The rivers joined them
    • Mountains and seas divided the land
    • Rome ordered it

  5. Question 5

    Sparta was famous for…

    • Its pyramids
    • Its huge library
    • Its strong, disciplined army
    • Its silk

  6. Question 6

    Rome was founded on hills beside which river?

    • The Thames
    • The Tiber
    • The Seine
    • The Nile

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