9th grade Social Studies practice sheet
New York State Learning Standards · from Gradelings · Name: ______________________
Question 1
Put these events from the human story in order, earliest first.
- 🔥Early humans learn to control fire
- 🎨People paint animals on cave walls
- 🧍Modern humans (Homo sapiens) appear in Africa
- 🏙️The first cities grow in Mesopotamia
Early humans learn to control fire → Modern humans (Homo sapiens) appear in Africa → People paint animals on cave walls → The first cities grow in Mesopotamia
Hint: Early humans learn to control fire: at least 400,000 years ago. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) appear in Africa: about 300,000 years ago. People paint animals on cave walls: more than 30,000 years ago. The first cities grow in Mesopotamia: about 5,500 years ago, or 3500 BCE.
Question 2
How did the deserts on each side of the Nile help Ancient Egypt?
🏜️- They provided rich farmland
- They were full of forests for timber
- They made it hard for invaders to reach Egypt
- They supplied fresh drinking water
They made it hard for invaders to reach Egypt
Hint: Few armies could cross large, dry deserts, so Egypt was naturally protected.
Question 3
What is one reason the Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE?
- It had no army ever
- It was too small
- Volcanoes destroyed every city
- Invasions, weak leaders and money problems
Invasions, weak leaders and money problems
Hint: Many causes worked together.
Question 4
Around 550 CE, monks smuggled silkworm eggs to Constantinople, so its empire could make its own silk. Which empire was it?
- the Maya
- Ancient Egypt
- the Byzantine Empire
- Babylon
the Byzantine Empire
Hint: The Byzantine Empire was the eastern part of the Roman world, centered on Constantinople.
Question 5
The Christian church split in 1054 into the Roman Catholic Church and the…
- Anglican Church
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- Protestant Church
- Coptic Church only
Eastern Orthodox Church
Hint: This is called the Great Schism.
Question 6
What was a fief?
- A type of armor
- A church tax
- A merchant's cart
- Land that a lord gave to a vassal in return for loyalty
Land that a lord gave to a vassal in return for loyalty
Hint: Fiefs were the payment in the feudal system. Land was the main source of wealth.
Question 7
What was the House of Wisdom in Baghdad?
- A center where scholars translated and studied books from many cultures
- A military school
- A market
- A royal palace
A center where scholars translated and studied books from many cultures
Hint: Scholars from different backgrounds gathered, translated and added new ideas.
Question 8
Under Mongol rule, trade on the Silk Road…
- moved to the Americas
- ended
- became safer and grew
became safer and grew
Hint: This is sometimes called the Pax Mongolica.
Question 9
In the 1520s, King Afonso I of Kongo wrote to Portugal's king to protest…
- high silk prices
- a new calendar
- the harm the slave trade did to his people
the harm the slave trade did to his people
Hint: His letters are important primary sources.
Question 10
The Aztec grew crops on floating gardens called…
- oases
- chinampas
- terraces
- rice paddies
chinampas
Hint: They were built in lake water.
Answer key
- 1. Early humans learn to control fire → Modern humans (Homo sapiens) appear in Africa → People paint animals on cave walls → The first cities grow in Mesopotamia (First Farmers)
- 2. They made it hard for invaders to reach Egypt (Where Civilizations Grew)
- 3. Invasions, weak leaders and money problems (Greece & Rome)
- 4. the Byzantine Empire (Trade Networks)
- 5. Eastern Orthodox Church (Rome's Fall & Byzantium)
- 6. Land that a lord gave to a vassal in return for loyalty (Medieval Europe)
- 7. A center where scholars translated and studied books from many cultures (The Islamic World)
- 8. became safer and grew (Empires of Asia)
- 9. the harm the slave trade did to his people (African Kingdoms & Empires)
- 10. chinampas (Maya, Aztec & Inca)
Want more than 10 questions?
In Gradelings the questions change every time and adjust to your child, with hints and kind feedback. See all social studies units.