Embedded Files
In this unit, we will encounter the three civilizations that were native to what is now Central America (Mexico, Belize, Guatamala): The Olmecs ("people of rubber", famous for the rubber that they harvested from the rubber tree); The Mayans (famous for their circular calendar, once thought to end in December 2012); and the Aztecs, who were conquered cruelly by Spanish explorers seeking gold.
Website about the Olmecs: http://www.kidspast.com/world-history/0273-olmecs.php
and http://familyonbikes.org/educate/lessons/olmecans.htm
Website about the Mayans: http://mayas.mrdonn.org/ and http://mayas.mrdonn.org/dailylife.html
Website about the Aztecs: http://aztecs.mrdonn.org/ and http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/flash/mexkids.html
Horrible Histories videos on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG8WRKpdq-c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh4ZJTOLTu4
Website about the Spanish Explorers, the "conquistadors", and their encounter with the Aztecs in Mexico, and later, their encounter with the INCAS, in Machu Picchu, near Cuzco, Peru.)
http://www.ducksters.com/biography/explorers/spanish_conquistadores.php
and http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=wars&FileName=wars_aztecs.php
Some famous Spanish "conquistadors" that we will meet in our textbook are: Christopher Columbus,
Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizarro, Vasco Balboa, Ponce de Leon; deSoto
Website about the Incas: http://incas.mrdonn.org/ and http://www.ducksters.com/history/aztec_maya_inca.php
Take this brain-teaser, on-line quiz about the Incas at http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/geographygames/brainteaserinca/
WHERE IS "MESO-AMERICA" LOCATED? (What is now Mexico, Central America)
A Mayan Calendar was based on 260 days, and worked with 2 intersecting dials, similar to cogs on a wheel inside a watch mechanism. In class, we will replicate a paper Mayan Calendar, and learn the names of the days of the cycle, and how Mayans used it to predict everything from constellations, to planting cycles for the harvest of maize (corn), a staple diet item.
Mayan life was deeply religious. Many nature gods such as the jaguar, sun, corn, and bird gods were kept happy with the constant supply of blood, both animal and human. Mayans and Aztecs played a vicious and brutal war game with sticks and a rubber ball, mildly similar to our soccer game. However, the losing team was sacrificed to the gods, there on the playing field. The believed this to be a high honor, and a way of appeasing the gods of corn, of water, and of war.
Play an online game in the Mayan ballcourts:
Page updated
Report abuse