4 Th Grade Homework Template printable pdf download

Grade Homework #16

Student Name:

In your opinion,

Eratosthenes – Geographer & Mathematician

what was the

Cross-Curricular Focus: History/Social Sciences & Mathematics

greatest work of

Eratosthenes? Why?

______________

You have probably studied about how to locate places on Earth using lines of

latitude and longitude, and you have probably studied about prime and composite

______________

numbers. But did you know that both of those important ideas came to us from the

mind of one ancient Greek man? His name was Eratosthenes.

Eratosthenes lived in the city of Cyrene in the nation of Greece from 276 to 195

______________

B.C. Long before any of us was anything but a distant glimmer in the future, he

was busy measuring Earth and observing how it tilts on an axis. He even figured out

______________

a way to calculate the distance from Earth to the sun, and discovered the need for a

leap year to balance out the calendar year every 4

year. His measurements of

______________

very large distances were incredibly accurate. He repeatedly applied a common

measurement that was roughly equal to the size of a city stadium to show distances

It seems unusual

as great as the circumference of Earth. He even used his ideas to create an early

to measure things

world map. He became the first geographer, and even invented the word

based on the size of

geography, which is the study of Earth’s physical features.

the city stadium.

In addition to his studies of Earth, Eratosthenes was an accomplished

What common item

mathematician. One area of math that he focused on was working with prime and

or building might be

composite numbers. He used a number chart, which became known as the Sieve of

used if you were

Eratosthenes. He used the chart to cross off multiples of numbers, beginning with 2

going to do a similar

and working his way up. He knew that if a number was a multiple of another

thing today?

number, it could not be a prime number, because the number it was a multiple of

______________

would be a factor of it. By crossing off all the multiples, Eratosthenes was left with

only prime numbers on the chart. He circled these, then made a list of prime

numbers. This tool is still used today to find smaller primes.

______________

Eratosthenes was a remarkable man not just because of his discoveries as a

geographer or mathematician. He was remarkable because of the many areas in

______________

which he excelled. History will remember him, of course, as a geographer and

mathematician, but also as an athlete, a poet, a musician, and an astronomer.

Writing Assignment

: The many accomplishments of Eratosthenes are remembered many years after he was alive.

On a separate sheet of lined paper, write a

What legacy would you like to leave for future generations? Why?

paragraph of 5-8 sentences that provides evidence from the passage to support your thinking. Pay attention

to spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, and make sure that your work is neat and easy to read. You

should have a title, and a proper heading in the top right corner (name, group, date, assignment).

Academic Vocabulary:

1. List two pieces of information about your school:______________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

2. What evidence could you find that it had rained the night before? _________________________

3. Complete the sentence:

It was evident to me that my friend had been crying because

_________________________________________________________________________________.

4 Th Grade Homework Template

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