Helen's+Mesopotamia

= __**Assignment 2-1**__ =
 * Answer the following questions and define the vocabulary (if any) clearly and with details on your wiki page.** **Use the links above from the Class Activity 2-1** **//to// help you answer the questions.**

1. What helped the human population to grow in //Mesopotamia//? - Increased food supply, sturdier shelters, and improved technology helped the human population to grow dramatically in Mesopotamia. 2. What does //cultivate// mean? -Cultivate means to grow things, like crops. 3. By 5000 B.C.E. what major problem did the farmers in the Zagros hills have? -By 5000 B.C.E. the major problem the farmers in the Zegros hills did not have enough land on which to grow food for the increasing population. 4. Using the choices in the critical thinking section of the activity, what is the best way to deal with the food shortage? Why? -Using the choices in the critical thinking section of the activity, the best way to deal with the food shortage was to first try to increase the number of time each years that farmers plant their crops. Also, I think the best way to deal with the food shortage is to try to find another place to grow food that has lots of space. 1. What two major problems did farmers have as they tried to grow their crops on the Mesopotamian river //plains//? - The two major problems that farmers had as they tried to grow their crops on the Mesopotamian river plaints are that the river plains always got flooded by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and that the soil was hot and stony. 2. How did they solve these problems? - They solved these problems by managing to control the water using dams and irrigation. They built barriers, canals, and reservoirs. 3. Where did the melted snow that caused flooding come from? - The melted snow that caused flooding came from the Zargos Mountain.
 * //Event A: Food Shortage//**
 * Event B: Uncontrolled Water Supply**

= __**Assignment 2-2**__ =

**Answer the following questions and define the vocabulary (if any)** __**clearly**__ **and with** __**details**__ **on your wiki page. Use the links above from the In Class Activity 2-1 called //Event C:// //Building and Maintaining a Complex Irrigation System// & //Event D: Attacks by Neighboring Communities// to help you answer the questions.**

1. What was the first simple method farmers used to get water to their fields from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers? - The first simple method farmers used to get water to their fields from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers was to carry the waters in buckets. Farmers got water to their fields by carrying buckets. 2. How did farmers prevent flooding? - The farmers prevented flooding by building dams, barriers, canals, and reservoirs, and taking care of them regularly. 3. Over time, carrying buckets of water to the fields was too difficult. Please **clearly** explain how levees, canals, dams, and reservoirs were used to make life easier for farmers? - Over time, carrying buckets of water to the fields was too difficult. Levees, canals, dams, and reservoirs were used to make life easier for farmers because you didn't have to go to the river to get water because there were little canals irrigating the fields. 4. Which word means an extra supply of something such as food? - Surplus means an extra supply of something such as food. 5. What could happen if one canal was clogged? - The thing that could happen if one canal is clogged is the water won't move through there and the whole irrigation system would not work. 6. How did different villages take care of the complex irrigation system? - The different villages took care of the complex irrigation system by cooperating each other and taking care of the irrigation system.
 * Event C: Building and Maintaining a Complex Irrigation System**

1. How did Mesopotamian villages help each other? - The Mesopotamian villages helped each other by 2. How were people, who lived very far apart, connected to each other? - The people who lived very far apart connected each other by cleaning up irrigating systems and they were connected by the irrigation canals that wound through the cities. 3. What did many villages grow into? - The villages grew into towns and cities. 4. What do we call the region in Mesopotamia that had many growing cities and towns? What are the people called that come from this region? - We call the region in Mesopotamia that had many growing cities and towns was called Sumer and the people who were called that came from that region were Sumerians. 5. How could one city stop the water from reaching another city? - One city could stop the water from reaching another city by one city could block one canal, and all the irrigating system, except its would have no water. 6. Why was it easy to attack other cities on the Mesopotamian plains? - It was easy to attack other cities on the Mesopotamian plains because the Mesopotamian plains provided no natural barriers and it is also easy to attack other cities on the Mesopotamian plains because it is just a wide open flatland. 7. What defense plan is best to protect a city? - I think that it is best to build walls around the city so that the enemy cannot come in. It is also a good idea to dig holes in the ground so that you can move in secret just in case the walls come down or when the enemies are chasing you.
 * Event D: Attacks by Neighboring Communities**

= __Assignment 2-3__= Please read pages 56-59 from your online textbook and answer these questions clearly and in complete sentences on your wiki page.

1. How did the Fertile Crescent get its name? 2. What was the most important factor in making Mesopotamia's farmland fertile? 3. In what ways did a Division of Labor contribute to the growth of Mesopotamiam civilization? 4. How might running large projects like the maintaining a large and complex irrigation system prepare people for running a government?