FORMATIVE MINI ASSESSMENTS
First Grading Period 2010-11
September 21-24
STUDENT NAME _____________________________________________
DATE _____________ PERIOD______
Social Studies – Grade 8
Use your knowledge of social studies and the chart to answer the following questions.
Year
Founder
Colony
1626
Peter Minuit
New York
Trade and profit
1634
George Calvert
Maryland
Religious freedom for Catholics
1636
Thomas Hooker
Connecticut
1733
1
James Oglethorpe
B Debtor colony
C Refuge for Roman Catholics
D Haven for Quakers
Religious and Economic freedom
Debtor colony and to act as a buffer zone
between British colonies and Spanish
Florida
Georgia
What was the major reason for the founding of
Georgia?
A Trade and profit
Reason for Founding
2
What can you conclude from the chart?
F The colonies were all established in the 17th
century.
G The colonies were established only in the
New England area.
H The colonies were established for different
reasons.
J
Questions adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
History Alive!
The colonies were established by the same
company.
08 Social Studies FMA Sept 10
Page 1
Use your knowledge of social studies and the map to answer the following questions.
3
2
1
3
Which geographical feature was a geographical
barrier to colonists travelling from England to
the colonies?
5
What geographic barrier is labeled “3” on the
map?
A Rocky Mountains
A Pacific Ocean
B Mississippi River
B Gulf of Mexico
C Conestoga Mountains
C Lake Superior
D Appalachian Mountains
D Atlantic Ocean
4
What colony is labeled “2” on the map?
F New York
G Georgia
H Virginia
J
Massachusetts
Questions adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
History Alive!
08 Social Studies FMA Sept 10
Page 2
6
King James I granted a charter to the Virginia
Company to plant colonies in the New World.
The first colony was called ________________.
Virginia established in America!
New colony in America brings hope of the
New World to Great Britain!
F Boston
G Williamsburg
8
H New York
J
Jamestown
The headline above would have appeared in the
newspapers in the year —
F 1607
G 1617
H 1776
J
Life in colonial America was not easy, even for
children. Families grew or made everything they
used. Fathers and sons worked hard all day
planting crops, clearing the land, and building
fences. Some boys learned a trade like
blacksmithing or printing.
By 1619 Jamestown had exported 10
tons of tobacco to Europe and was a
boomtown. The export business was
going so well the colonists were able to
afford two imports which would greatly
contribute to their productivity and
quality of life: 20 Blacks from Africa and
90 women from England. The Africans
were paid for in food; each woman cost
120 pounds of tobacco.
7
Which of the following statements is supported
by the passage above?
A Tobacco was the cash crop of Jamestown.
1783
Girls worked hard, too. They made candles,
preserved food, baked bread, and helped their
mothers make cheese and butter. In the
afternoon, they mended and washed clothes,
knitted, and wove cloth and spun yarn.
9
Which sentence from this passage best
summarizes how the colonists adapted to their
environment?
B Women were not considered important in
Jamestown.
A Fathers and sons planted crops, cleared land,
and built fences.
C Slaves were bought in the Caribbean and
brought to America.
B Girls made candles, preserved food, baked
bread, and helped their mothers make cheese
and butter.
D Jamestown exported rice and timber in order
to make money.
C Some boys learned a trade like
blacksmithing or printing.
D Everyone in the family including children,
contributed to the hard work of surviving in
the colonies.
Questions adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
History Alive!
08 Social Studies FMA Sept 10
Page 3
New England Colonies
Shipbuilding
Whaling
Mining
Fur
Trapping
Southern Colonies
Tobacco
Cattle
10 According to the maps above, the New England
colonies —
Indigo
Rice
Fishing
Iron
Rum
12 According to the maps above, what
generalization can be made?
F The Northern colonies were able only to
grow crops.
F grew tobacco
G were unable to grow tobacco
G Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina
relied on whaling and fishing.
H needed slaves to harvest crops
J
Grain
Farming
Lumber
included the colonies of Georgia, Maryland,
and Virginia
H The Southern colonies developed an
agricultural economy.
J
Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
were Southern colonies.
11 In what area would shipbuilding and whaling
take place?
A The area of Virginia
B The Southern Colonies
C The New England Colonies
D The colony of Maryland
Questions adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
History Alive!
08 Social Studies FMA Sept 10
Page 4
“So that the colonists might have a hand in the
governing of themselves; it was granted that a
general assembly should be held yearly once,
whereat were to be present the governor and
council and two burgesses from each plantation
freely to be elected by the inhabitants thereof.”
“A Brief Declaration of the Plantation of Virginia”
15 The above document is considered a —
13 The quote above describes —
A a representative government
A newspaper account
B a dictatorship
B primary source
C indentured service
C secondary source
D a monarchy
D story told in the family
14 The above excerpt describes the establishment
of the —
F Virginia House of Burgesses
G Colonial Assembly of Rhode Island
H United States House of Parliament
J
Town Meeting Hall of Philadelphia
Questions adapted from Teacher’s Curriculum Institute
History Alive!
08 Social Studies FMA Sept 10
Page 5