1
Forming your Hypothesis
(Ancient Worlds Pre-Visit Activity)
Teacher Guidelines
The following worksheet is to be completed prior to your class participating in the
Ancient Worlds program at the Vancouver Museum. The purpose of the activity is to
familiarize students with making hypotheses statements.
Questions have been formed based on each of the six civilizations discussed in
the Ancient Worlds Outlooks 7 textbook. The worksheet can be completed with
or without this text. If you are using this text, students can test their hypothesis by
researching further in their textbook. If you are not using this text in your class,
please feel free to use other sources for further research.
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Making a Hypothesis
A hypothesis is an educated guess. It is a statement of what you believe to be true
based on what you already know. Generally hypotheses are formed in answer to a
research question.
Once you have formed your hypothesis you should test it against other scientific
research.
Example 1:
Research question: Did ancient Egyptians believe in an afterlife?
Correct hypothesis statement: Ancient Egyptians did believe in an afterlife.
Correct hypothesis statement: Ancient Egyptians did not believe in an afterlife.
Incorrect: Yes, Ancient Egyptians did believe in an afterlife because they believed the
spirit would return to the body after it died.
Practice making your own hypothesis:
Question #1:
Were laws important for Mesopotamian people?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of the stela on p. 83 of
the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books or on the internet.
Question #2:
Did writing play an important role in the life of ancient Egyptians?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of Nefertiti playing chess
on p.91 of the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books or on the internet.
Question #3:
Did Indus Valley people care about their appearance?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of a statue of a man on
p.115 of the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books or on the internet.
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Question #4:
Was the Emperor a meaningless figure in ancient China?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of the statues of the
terra cotta soldiers on p.140 of the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books
or on the internet.
Question #5: Was household work part of life for ancient Greek women?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of the vase on p.160 of
the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books or on the internet.
Question #6: Was the road system insignificant in ancient Rome?
Hypothesis:
____________________________________________________________________
Test your hypothesis: Research further by looking at the picture of Via Appia on p.184 of
the Ancient Worlds textbook or searching in other books or on the internet.