Ancient Greece Study Guide (History, Contributions, Economics and Geography)
Greece
How did Greece adapt to its environment?
Greece was located near water and surrounded by
water on 3 sides. This location helped them have a
“natural wall” of water to protect them from
enemies. They had limited, rich soil, so they traded
to get what they needed. They used the
Mediterranean Sea to trade.
Greece
Physical Characteristics of Greece(traits describing how Greece looks)
Government
Democracy- a government in which people vote to
make their own rules and laws. We have a
Greece is a peninsula- surrounded by water on 3 sides democracy form of government in the U.S.A. U.S.
citizens (age 18 and older) get to vote in elections.
Greece is located next to the Mediterranean Sea
Greece is very rocky
Greece has a lot of hills/mountains
Greece is on the continent of Europe
Greece is in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres
We don’t use direct democracy as Greece did- we
use a representative democracy like Rome. We vote
for representatives to vote for us-we will discuss
representative democracy more during the Rome
unit.
Economics of GreeceGreece specialized in ship building, farming on
hillsides, making pottery, and fishing. Specializing
in these things helped the people of Greece trade
with nearby lands to get what they needed.
Opportunity Cost- when resources are limited, you
must give up one item to gain another item.
Opportunity Cost example- An 8-year-old in Greece received 2 gold
coins as a gift from his uncle who went on a trading journey to Timbuktu.
His mother lets him keep one coin, but sends him to the market with the
other coin. She wants him to get a new water jug. Instead, he buys
freshly caught fish for dinner. What is his opportunity cost? The new,
water jug was his opportunity cost-wasn’t able to get it since he bought
the fish.
Interdependence- when a civilization needs to trade
and work with others to get the things they need
because they can’t produce all the goods and
services they need/want
Natural (made in nature)Resources of Greecesea water, fish, limited rich soil, olives, grapes
Human (people)Resources of Greecefarmers, ship builders, fishermen, pottery makers,
traders
Capital (tools) Resources of Greeceships, small communities within Greece
Contributions- the act of giving, or doing something
that helps someone other than yourself
What are some of the creations & contributions of
Ancient Greeks that have helped us live today?
Architecture- Greece used columns in their
buildings-many modern buildings (including our
U.S. Supreme Court Building and even our school)
use columns.
Arts- paintings (in & on buildings), sculptures,
mosaics, drama (theater/plays), pottery (vases used
pictures to tell stories)-all of these contributions are
used today throughout the world
Olympics- Olympic Games of today are modeled
after the games of Ancient Greece- in ancient times
only men participated in the Olympics
Democracy- Greece was the birthplace of
democracy. They had a DIRECT DEMOCRACY
which means that people vote directly for what they
wanted. Our U.S.A. government is a democracy.
Athens is the city-state and the capital of Greece. They valued education, the arts, and democracy.
Athens traded with Sparta. (grapes for their weapons)
Sparta was the 2nd most popular city-state. They valued a strong military instead of education & the arts.
Sparta traded with Athens.
(weapons for their grapes)
The Parthenon is a temple built (to honor the Goddess Athena) on the Acropolis (high hill) in Athens,
Greece. Its ruins are still standing today. Our U.S. Supreme Court Building looks similar to it.
*****Some of the economic information will be repeated in the Ancient Rome Unit.