Name: ________________________________
Date: _____________________________
Section: ____________________________
Seventh Grade Social Studies
Rice/LaBrache
10/27/11
Directions:
A quality piece of writing successfully demonstrates your understanding of the content.
You must show your knowledge by giving in-depth responses. When completing a
writing assignment for social studies keep the following in mind:
 We are looking for thick facts (content based assertions).
 We do not want thin facts (statements of general knowledge).
Read the sentences below and determine if the sentence is a thick or thin fact.
SENTENCE
1. The Tigris is one of the major rivers in Mesopotamia.
2. The invention of irrigation allowed Sumerians to produce a
surplus of food.
3. In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire.
4. Scientists believe humans originated on the continent of Africa.
5. With the help of his judges, tax collectors, and military leaders
Hammurabi was able to successfully control the Babylonian
Empire.
6. The Euphrates River flows south to the Persian Gulf because the
northern part of Mesopotamia is a plateau and the south is a
plain.
7. The Sumerians, Assyrians, and Babylonians were a few of the
early civilizations that believed in many gods.
8. The Assyrians were able to gain control of Mesopotamia due to
their advanced weapons made from iron.
9. Sargon of Akkad was the first person to create an empire.
10. The first formal system of writing was cuneiform.
THICK or THIN