Year 3 Ancient Egypt: what stayed the same across 3,000 years? worksheet

“The Nile: Egypt's lifeline” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 history unit “Ancient Egypt: what stayed the same across 3,000 years?”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 22 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

The Nile: Egypt's lifeline

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · History · about 22 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain why the River Nile mattered to Ancient Egyptians.

A Look back3 min

1.
Write these years in order, earliest first: 1500, 900, 1200.
2.
On a timeline, which end shows the earliest date? Circle one.
The left endThe right endThe middleThe top
3.
Which sentence is a fact? Circle one.
The Romans came to Britain in AD 43.Stone Age homes were the nicest ever built.Everyone in the past was always unhappy.The best king was the tallest one.

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ola finds the start of Ancient Egypt on a timeline. Follow her steps.

Watch me

Egypt began around 3000 BC. BC years count down towards 1.

A bigger BC number is further back in time.

So Egypt's start sits far to the left of the timeline.

Now you

1.
Egypt began around 3000 BC. Did it begin before or after 2000 BC? Circle the answer.
beforeafter

C Your turn7 min

The River Nile starts at Lake Victoria. It flows north through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea. Read each question and circle the word or number that fits.

A river running beside dark, rich fields with rows of green crops

1.
The flood left black mud on the land. The soil was very good for crops, so it was ___. Circle one.
fertilefrozensandy
2.
Ancient Egypt began around ___ BC. Circle the answer.
3003000300001300
3.
The River Nile starts its journey at ___. Circle one.
Lake Victoriathe Mediterranean Seathe Sahara DesertEgypt
4.
Which country does the Nile flow through just before it reaches Egypt? Circle one.
UgandaSouth SudanSudanKenya

Say it out loud: Why did Ancient Egyptians farm beside the river? Which words on this page told you?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Kit says: “The River Nile only flows through Egypt.”

1.
Is Kit right? Write why in one sentence.

E Think deeper4 min

Egypt has hot, dry desert on both sides of the river. The desert was very hard for an army to cross.

Green farmland beside a river, with golden sand dunes at its edges

1.
Explain in 2 or 3 sentences how the river and the desert both helped the Ancient Egyptians.

How did it feel?2 min

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

The Nile: Egypt's lifeline · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 900, 1200, 1500 If your child puts 1500 first, they may think the biggest year is the oldest. Point to the timeline and ask which end is earlier, then check 900 is at the left.

2. The left end If your child circles the right end, they think the newest date is the oldest. Ask which end the earliest year would sit on.

3. The Romans came to Britain in AD 43.

B

1. before If your child says after, they may think 3000 BC is closer to today. Point to 2000 BC and ask which date is further left.

C

1. fertile

2. 3000

3. Lake Victoria

4. Sudan

D

1. Look for: Says Kit is wrong, and that the Nile flows through other countries too, such as Uganda or Sudan. If your child agrees with Kit, read the Your turn box together. Ask which countries the Nile flows through.

E

1. Look for: Mentions floods leaving fertile soil for crops, and the desert being hard or dangerous for enemies to cross.

Words to use

Say“Where does the River Nile start and end? What did the floods leave behind?”

Instead of“Tell them the answer straight away.”

After the sheet

Draw a river on paper with a pen. Ask: where does it start, where does it end, and what grows on its banks? Use a map from home if you have one.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

The Three Kingdoms(with a plan)
Howard Carter's careful dig(with a plan)
Cracking the Rosetta Stone(with a plan)
Death and the Ancient Egyptians(with a plan)
Changed or stayed the same?(with a plan)

Every Year 3 history worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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