Grade 5 · Social Studies · Unit 6 of 7
Gifts from the Past
Ideas and inventions we still use
What your child practises
What ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, Greece, Rome, the Maya and the Inca left behind, such as writing, a 60-minute hour, paper, democracy, roads and languages.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: legacies of ancient civilizations and empires · writing, laws, roads, ideas and inventions that last until today
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which invention is linked to ancient China?
📄- zero as a number
- the wheel
- the Olympic Games
- paper
Show answer
paper
Hint: Paper was invented in China around 100 CE.
Question 2
Which of these ideas came from ancient Greece?
🗳️- the quipu
- zero in numbers
- paper
- democracy
Show answer
democracy
Hint: Athens developed an early democracy.
Question 3
What did Roman aqueducts do?
🏗️- block rivers
- carry water to cities
- carry soldiers
- carry mail only
Show answer
carry water to cities
Hint: Aqueducts were channels that carried water over long distances.
Question 4
Ancient Egypt gave the world early forms of…
- the telegraph
- electricity
- papyrus paper and a 365-day calendar
- cars
Show answer
papyrus paper and a 365-day calendar
Hint: Egyptians made a calendar of 365 days based on the Nile and the stars.
Question 5
Which of these still uses a legacy of Rome?
- Only bicycles
- Many laws and many words in English and French
- Only comic books
- Nothing at all
Show answer
Many laws and many words in English and French
Hint: Latin words and Roman legal ideas are still used.
Question 6
Which statement shows a legacy of ancient Greece in school today?
- Students use mit'a labour
- Students weigh grain as tax
- Students learn math ideas like geometry that Greek thinkers wrote about
- Students learn to read hieroglyphs only
Show answer
Students learn math ideas like geometry that Greek thinkers wrote about
Hint: Greek mathematicians such as Euclid wrote about geometry.