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6th grade · Social Studies · Unit 14 of 15

The Mediterranean World

Byzantium, the caliphates and the Crusades

What your child practices

The three regions that shared the Mediterranean after Rome fell (feudal Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic caliphates), how Islam spread to North Africa and Spain, and the Crusades seen from European, Byzantine and Muslim points of view. Religions are described factually and respectfully.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 6.6a; 6.6b; 6.6c; 6.6d · feudal Western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, and the Crusades from several perspectives

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. After Rome fell, feudalism grew in Western Europe for protection and order.
  2. Islam spread across North Africa and Southwest Asia through conquest, trade and travel. The Umayyads ruled from Damascus.
  3. The Crusades increased trade between Europe and Southwest Asia. Muslim scholars brought the numerals we use to Europe.

Example: What was one effect of the Crusades? Europeans met goods and ideas from Southwest Asia. They wanted more spices and silks. Answer: more trade between Europe and Southwest Asia

The Mediterranean World in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 14 of 15 in 6th grade Social Studies, after Classical China & India and before Mongols & Travelers.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    The Byzantine Empire lasted until 1453, when…

    • The Vikings took it
    • Columbus sailed
    • The Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople
    • Rome was founded

  2. Question 2

    After the Crusades, spices and silk often reached Europe through…

    • Arctic ports
    • Viking villages
    • Inca roads
    • Italian trading cities such as Venice

  3. Question 3

    By the 700s, Muslim rule had spread from Southwest Asia to…

    • North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula
    • Scandinavia
    • China and Japan
    • The Americas

  4. Question 4

    The Umayyad caliphate ruled from its capital at…

    • Paris
    • Damascus
    • Rome
    • Baghdad

  5. Question 5

    Mecca and Medina are in…

    • The Arabian Peninsula
    • The Iberian Peninsula
    • Italy
    • Greece

  6. Question 6

    The Reconquista was…

    • A Mongol invasion of China
    • Christian kingdoms retaking the Iberian Peninsula, completed in 1492
    • A trade route across the Sahara
    • A Byzantine law code

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