Evan Leuenberger 1

TE 408

Writing an Objective Test Assignment

Unit Sketch:

World History and Geography (Grade Seven)

Essential Question: What were major similarities and differences between

the Olmec, Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations? How did geography impact
the various empires? What role did social hierarchy play in the maintenance
of early Mesoamerican civilizations?
Michigan Standards:
7 W1.1.1 Explain how and when human communities populated major regions of
the world and adapted to a variety of environments.
7 W2.1.1 Describe the importance of the development of human language, oral
and written, and its relationship to the development of culture
7 W2.1.5 Define the concept of cultural diffusion and how it resulted in the spread
of ideas and technology from one region to another (e.g., plants, crops, plow, wheel,
bronze metallurgy).
7 W3.1.3 Compare and contrast the defining characteristics of a city-state,
civilization, and empire.
7 W3.1.8 Describe the role of state authority, military power, taxation systems,
and institutions of coerced labor, including slavery, in building and maintaining
empires
7 W4.3.2 The Americas to 1500 -- Describe the diverse characteristics of early
civilizations in the Americas by comparing and contrasting American Indian
civilizations and societies such as the Maya, Aztec, Inca, Pueblo, and/or Eastern
Woodland peoples.

Learner Outcomes:
1. Students will be able to locate where major American civilizations
ruled.
2. Students will be able to describe major accomplishments achieved by
the Incas and the Mayans.
3. Students will be able to explain the differing roles consequent was
used for in different civilizations.
4. Students will be able to explain the importance of agriculture to early
American civilizations.
5. Students will be able to diagram the social structure of Inca and Maya
societies.

Evan Leuenberger 2
TE 408

6. Students will be able to defend depictions of early American

civilizations as overly barbaric.
7. Students will be compare and contrast Maya to Inca civilizations.
8. Students will be able to examine the role sacrifice played in early
American civilizations.

100 Point Objective Test

Part I. Multiple Choice (two points each)
The multiple choice portion of the test is meant to determine how well
students can link information from the beginning of the chapter, when
people first came to the Americas, to the final portion, in this case the Incan
Empire.
1. Most experts believe that the first people to come to the Americas
traveled along the:
a. Icelandic Tunnel
c. ocean currents from Australia
b. Bering Strait
d. Oceanic Flight 815
2. What sorts of changes did farming bring?
a. People enjoyed a more reliable and steady source of food.
b. Families settled down and formed larger communities.
c. Humans concentrated on new skills: arts and crafts,
architecture, social organization.
d. All of the above
3. This area, stretching south from central Mexico to northern Honduras,
was where the first complex societies in the Americas arose.
a. North America
c. Mesoamerica
b. Canada
d. Midmerica
4. The regions first known civilization builders were a people known as
the
a. Olmec
b. Apache
5. The

c. Aztec
d. Maya
Mountains stretch about 4,500 miles down the western

edge of South America, from Colombia in the north to Chile in the

south.
a. Himalayan
c. Peruvian
b. Andes
d. Witch
6. Etched on the plains of southeastern Peru are more than 1,000
drawings of animals, plants, humans, and geometric shapes known as

Evan Leuenberger 3
TE 408

a. Nazca Lines
c. Arte de Cliparte
b. Concentric circles
d. Nadia Figures
7. In addition to temples and pyramids, each Maya city featured a
a. Town hall
c. Complex sewer system
b. Mascot
d. Ball court
8. The Maya based their calendar on careful observation of
a. Nature
c. Growing Seasons
b. Planets
d. Animal Behavior
9. The decision to form
was a strategic decision that
gained the Aztec a strategic position in the region.
a. Stone Weapons
c. the Triple Alliance
b. Trade Routes to the North
d. a democracy
10.
The heart of the Incan Empire was the city of
a. Tenochtitln
c. Cuzco
b. Machu Picchu
d. Peru
Part II. True/False (two points each)
The true and false portion of the test is meant to get students thinking about
important characteristics of the multiple Mesoamerican civilizations studied
in the unit. The questions focus on the Olmec, Aztec, Maya and Incan
empires.
1.

False

The Olmec Empire ended when the Spanish arrived in 900

BC
2.
3.

True

Agriculture, particularly the growing of maize, beans, and

squash, provided the basis for Maya life.

False
Maya priests sat at the top of this class structure and their

position was
hereditary.
4.
True
The Aztecs generally exercised loose control over the
5.

empire, often letting local rulers govern their own regions.

True
The Inca created an accounting device known as the
quipu, a set of knotted strings that could be used to record data.

Part III. Geography (two points each)

The geography of the Mesoamerican empires studied in this unit are
incredibly important to students understanding of Central and South

Evan Leuenberger 4
TE 408

American history. Students should be able to recognize which empires were

located where and the physical landscape that they embedded in.
1.

Part IV. Matching- use each word at

least Aonce. (four points each)
B

This city, Cusco,

was the center of

2.

Aztec Empire, which

Like the true and false portion of the

ruled from the 14th

test, the matching portion is meant to

have students recall important
characteristics and accomplishments of
the four Mesoamerican civilizations

3.

to 16th centuries
The location of the
Maya Empire

4.

studied in the unit.

C

the Inca Empire.

The location of the

The location of the

Inca Empire

Olmec

1. The

D
Aztec
5.

Maya
D
Maya

developed

Quetzaltenango

the most advanced writing system in the

ancient Americas.
2. The

Olmec

The location Inca

of the
Valley, an area that

are often are

was densely
populated

called Mesoamericas mother culture.

3. The

Aztec

built Tenochtitln, an extraordinary urban center

with a population of between 200,000 and 400,000 people.

4. The

Inca

built a 14,000-mile-long network of roads and

bridges spanning their empire, traversing rugged mountains and harsh

deserts.
5. While many empires in the region practiced human sacrifice,

Aztec

sacrificed thousands every year to please their sun god Huitzilopochtli.

Part V. Compare and Contrast (five points each)

Evan Leuenberger 5
TE 408

The compare and contrast portion of the test asks students to narrow their
focus to the civilizations that would have been especially spotlighted
throughout the unit, the Inca and Maya. The first question requires that
students read the characteristics provided to determine the civilization being
compared to the Maya, thus employing students powers of deduction. From
there students simply fill in the information that accompanies the respective
empire.

Maya

Mesoamerican
Civilizations:
Time Period
Social Structure

1. Inca

400 BC 1517 AD

1200-1572 AD

Different classes of people with

the king at the top and
commoners at the bottom

Government
Structure

3. Well organized city

states each with a king,
war was for tribute

2. Different classes of
people, king at the top
and commoners at the
bottom
Government is centrally
organized around a capital,
over which the kings rules.

Religion

4. Worshipped many gods,

kings blood was sacred

Worshipped many gods,

practiced human sacrifice

Part VI. Essay (ten points)

The final portion of the exam asks students to think critically and to employ
both facts and opinions in respect to the material studied in the unit. The
questions relate to the topics of human sacrifice and of major
accomplishments, and the ability to choose a topic allows students the
option to choose the topic they feel most comfortable with in terms of
responding.

Evan Leuenberger 6
TE 408

Critics of the film Apocylapto argue that the film focused too much on the
gorier aspects of Mayan civilization such as human sacrifice and warfare, and
too little on major accomplishments and inventions that Mayans made. Write
a five to ten sentence response arguing option one or two. Please circle
which option you have chosen.
1. That warfare and human sacrifice were important components of Maya
society and why
Sacrifice was common in ancient periods throughout world
Sacrifice was way for Maya to express their devotion to gods
Warfare was a legitimate way for the Maya Empire to expand
Maya were under constant threat of invasion themselves, so warfare was a
viable strategy to maintain their empire
-OR2. Write about major contributions made by the Maya people, and why
those are significant.
Calendar- allowed for better agricultural decisions and was remarkable
accurate
Corn- domestication of corn species allowed the Maya rulers to feed and
sustain growth
Writing system - highly advanced and allowed for history to be recorded
Math- established first use of absolute zero and base 20 counting system
Agriculture- building still around today, mortarless construction, precise