Semester Exam Study Guide Part 1
Review of Units 1 – 3
Unit 1 Study Guide: The Tools Historians Use
What is history?
What are the major events that different religions base their calendars on?
What does the word “circa” mean?
What dates would be preceded by the word circa?
What years are included in prehistory? When did prehistory end?
What years are included in ancient history? What are the beginning and ending events of
ancient history?
What years are included in medieval history?
When does modern history begin?
What are primary sources? What are examples of primary sources?
What are secondary sources? What are examples of secondary sources?
Be able to
explain how/why historians use artifacts and inferences to study history
use the accurate terminology of time lines in order to explain historical events
be able to use a timeline to answer questions about historical events
explain the advantages and disadvantages of both primary sources & secondary sources
Know the meaning of all the following 21 vocabulary words.
Unit 1 Vocabulary - - practice matching exercise
__1. 1 frame of reference
A. the chronicle of people and past events
__2. interpretation
B. an educated guess
__3. inference
C. the time before people developed writing
__4. history
D. based on our experiences, it is the way we look at the world
__5. prehistory
E. statement of meaning based on facts, prior knowledge,
judgment
____________________________________________________________________________
__6. chronicle
A. Before Christ
__7. chronology
B. Anno Domini – in the year of our Lord
__8. chronological
C. Before the Common Era
__9 . B.C.
D. a written record of events in the order in which they happened
(noun)
__10. B.C.E.
E. arranged in the order of time (adjective)
__11. A.D.
F. the arrangement of events, dates in the order of their
occurrence (a noun)
______________________________________________________________________________
__12. decade
A. an object made or used by humans in the past, such as pottery
__13. century
B. information from people who saw or were part of an event or
time period
__14. era
C. the period of ten years
__15. primary source
D. the period of a hundred years
__16. artifact
E. a large period of time
______________________________________________________________________________
__17. secondary source
A. favoring one side
__18. credibility
B. a source of information created after an event or time period
__19. bias
C. your stand on an issue or your opinion
__20. point of view
D. truthfulness
__21. Millennium
E. period of a thousand years
Unit 2 Study Guide – Early Humans and the Neolithic Revolution
Text Book pages 8 - 15
Study Packet:
Chart on the changes in human beings
Guided Readings 1 - 4
Vocabulary Pages
1. How do we know about people and events from prehistoric times, if they could not write
down their history? __________________________________________________________
2. Why is the Stone Age called the Stone Age? _____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. What does Paleolithic mean? _______________________________________________
4. How did early humans get their food during the Paleolithic Period?
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Why didn’t early humans settle down and live in one place?
___________________________________________________________________________
6. What kinds of shelter did early humans use as they adapted to their environment?
____________________________________________________________________________
7. How did the ability to control fire improve the lives of early humans? Give at least 4
examples. _____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. During the Ice Ages, did ice cover all the continents? ________________
9. What adaptations did early humans make to adapt and survive during the ice Ages? Give at
least three examples. ____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Historians believe language, religion, and art were developed by early humans during the
Old Stone Age. These are all elements of __________________________________________
11. During the Old Stone Age, which developed? – spoken or written language? _____________
12. What type of Paleolithic art has been discovered? Describe what is shown in this artwork
______________________________________________________________________________
13. What kind of stone was especially good for making tools with sharp edges? _____________
14. The word Neolithic means _____________________________________________________
15. When did this period occur? __________________________________________________
16. What happened during the Neolithic Revolution? _________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
17. Give two other names for the Neolithic Revolution. ________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
18. Why do historians call this period a revolution? ___________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
19. Give some examples of plants that became crops – plants that were domesticated.
_____________________________________________________________________________
20. What products (goods) and services did domesticated animals provide? ________________
______________________________________________________________________________
21. Why did the Neolithic Revolution lead to the development of villages and towns?
______________________________________________________________________________
22. Explain how farming surpluses lead to specialization. _______________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
23. What did farmers do with the surplus food they produced? __________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
24. There were many big changes; describe the changes in Neolithic culture in
a. Shelters/housing
b. Art
c. Religion
d. jobs (economy)
e. Technology
d. clothing
25. How is bronze made?
__________________________________________________________
26. Why was this period between 3000 B.C. and 1200 B.C. called the Bronze age.
Unit 2 vocabulary
archaeology
anthropology
migration
nomads/nomadic
Ice Age
Paleolithic
Neolithic
revolution
technology
adapt
domesticate
culture
harvest
surplus
specialization
stone age
pottery
environment
fossil
cultural universals:
shelter
clothing
family and society
economy
government
religion
art
Unit 3 Study Guide - Mesopotamia
Be able to locate on a map – identify – explain the following:
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia
Sumer
Babylon
Ur
Asia Minor
Arabia
Persian Gulf
Tigris River
Euphrates River
Mediterranean Sea
Identify, explain

cultural universals

characteristics of civilization

how neolithic farmers adapted to their environment and

how city-states emerged

characteristics of city-states

characteristics of cuneiform

Babylonian values that were reflected in Hammurabi’s legal code

how the Sumerian civilization reflects the culture universals and the characteristics of a
civilization

the Sumerian achievements
Unit 3 - Vocabulary Definitions : Match the definition to the words listed below
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
artisan
Chaldeans
city state
civilization
cuneiform
A. a complex society
B. the first type of writing
C. a skilled worker
D. one of the conquering groups
E. independent state made up of city and surrounding
fields
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
6. dominate
7. empire
8. epic
9. Fertile Crescent
10. geometry
A. geographical region that is excellent for farming
B. a long story or poem about a hero’s adventures
C. mathematical study of lines, shapes, angles
D. to be stronger, taller, larger
E. many different lands under one ruler
_+__+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_
11. Hammurabi
12. hereditary
13. hierarchy
14. irrigation
15. legacy
A. system used to get water to crops
B. type of position inherited from the father or mother
C. object or idea passed down to future generations
D. known for developing a system of laws
E. Arrangement of people according to wealth or
authority
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
16. Legal code
A. a holy place for worship
17. Merchant
B. record keeper; a person who can read and write
18. Plow
C. an organized collection of laws
19. Shrine
D. a trader who buys and sells things for a profit
20. Scribe
E. a tool used for breaking up the soil
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
21. Social classes
A. a large temple with steps leading to a holy place
22. Specialization of labor B. weak
23. Tiers
C. people with different amounts of power and wealth
24. Vulnerable
D. steps or layers, one on top of another
25. Ziggurat
E. different people doing different jobs