Social Studies Study Guide Chapter 3
Lessons 1, 2, and 3
Key Vocabulary:
emperor - _____________________________________________________________
magnetic compass - ______________________________________________________
caravan - ______________________________________________________________
pilgrimage - _____________________________________________________________
astrolabe - ______________________________________________________________
saga - _________________________________________________________________
Renaissance - ____________________________________________________________
navigation - _____________________________________________________________
slave trade - ___________________________________________________________
Lesson 1 Summary: Traveling Asia’s Silk Road
The Silk Road
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. How does Marco Polo’s description support his belief that China had great wealth?
2. How was the silk-making industry abler to create such wealth for China?
3. How did the Silk Road help people in different lands learn more about each other?
Chinese Sailors:
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. What new invention made the Chinese confident that they could safely journey to distant countries by sea?
2. Name two goods that traveled along the Silk Road.
3. Compare and Contrast the journeys of Marco Polo and Zheng He. How were they similar and how were they different?
Lesson 2 Summary: Africa’s Trading Empires
Ghana, Kingdom, or Gold
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. How did traders go across the Sahara Desert?
2. What does the statement Salt was worth its weight in gold mean?
3. Why was Ghana known as a “land of gold.”?
Mali and Songhai:
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. Mali was ruled by which king in the 1300’s? What was he known for?
2. Name the three powerful trading kingdoms of West Africa and the sequence in which they rules.
3. What was the new kingdom that came about after Mansa Musa’s rule? When was the peak of its control held?
Connecting Different Parts of the World:
3 Key Ideas:
Conclusion:
1. What was the name of the instrument that helped sailors use the sun and starts to find their location in latitude?
2. Why did caravans cross the Sahara desert?
Lesson 3 Summary: European Explorers
The Vikings
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. What was the most important information page 111 tells you about the Vikings?
2. What qualities can you assume Eric the Red possessed?
3. Why did Eric the Red name Greenland, “Greenland” when it wasn’t actually green?
The Renaissance
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. Why did the Renaissance take place in Italy?
2. How did the invention of the printing press contribute to the revival of learning during the Renaissance?
3. Who developed the printing press?
The Portuguese Explorer the African Coast
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. What evidence shows that Prince Henry was committed to his country’s growth and prosperity?
2. What was a slave trader?
3. How is a slave different than a servant?
A Sea Route to India and Exploration Continues
3 Key Ideas:
Questions to think about:
1. How did Bartolmeu Dias manage to round the tip of Africa?
2. What was the Cape of Good Hope?
3. What was different about the trade in the 1400’s from the trade in earlier periods?