Medieval Empires of Africa: Ghana, Mali & Songhai — Practice · Grade 6 Social Studies

Chapter: Connections Across Africa, Asia & Europe

What this practice covers

By the end of Medieval Empires of Africa: Ghana, Mali & Songhai you should be able to:

10 questions, written answer, each with a worked explanation.

Vocabulary used: trans-Saharan trade, Sahara, Mansa Musa, Timbuktu, griot.

Problem 1

Locate West African states. Does a shared name guarantee the same modern boundaries?
Answer and explanation

No. Use dated maps and regional context.

No. Use dated maps and regional context.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 2

Explain several economic foundations. Why include agriculture in a trade explanation?
Answer and explanation

Food and local production supported populations, settlements and exchange.

Food and local production supported populations, settlements and exchange.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 3

Study learning and political display. Can one royal journey describe every resident’s belief or wealth?
Answer and explanation

No. It is evidence of a particular ruler’s public action and connections.

No. It is evidence of a particular ruler’s public action and connections.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 4

Compare oral, written and material records. Why combine several kinds of records?
Answer and explanation

They illuminate different experiences and help test omissions, dating and interpretation.

They illuminate different experiences and help test omissions, dating and interpretation.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 5

Explain what each may illuminate and why they should not be collapsed into one literal eyewitness report.
Answer and explanation

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits.

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 6

Write a three-sentence museum or atlas label explaining this case. Include what is directly supported, one inference and one limit.
Answer and explanation

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. The label must identify its evidence and avoid turning a model into an authentic artifact.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 7

A writer claims the supplied case proves the same thing happened everywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere. Repair the scope and identify a useful next comparison.
Answer and explanation

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. Limit the conclusion to the named evidence; compare a different dated setting using the same categories before widening it.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 8

Which source or observation would most improve this explanation? Explain the information it could add and a limitation it would still have.
Answer and explanation

Food and local production supported populations, settlements and exchange. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

Food and local production supported populations, settlements and exchange. A useful new source addresses the missing information directly. Explain its provenance, access or scale; do not assume a second source answers every question.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 9

Using the assigned chapter reader, connect this topic to another named society or period. Give one similarity and one difference using matched categories.
Answer and explanation

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. They illuminate different experiences and help test omissions, dating and interpretation.

Use two specifically located details from the chapter reader and distinguish period, source purpose and scale. They illuminate different experiences and help test omissions, dating and interpretation.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

Problem 10

Revise your response to the whole-unit case after checking the fourth teaching part. State exactly what you changed and why.
Answer and explanation

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

They address political image, economic practice and remembered legitimacy. Compare creator, date, audience and transmission; each has a distinct evidentiary role and limits. The revision note must quote or reproduce the changed claim and explain its improved accuracy.

Response criteria

  • Answer the actual question with accurate details.
  • Explain how the evidence or language choice supports the conclusion.
  • State a relevant limit, alternative or justified revision.

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