Unit 4: The Americas
We recommend that teachers new to Investigating History review the Curriculum Guidebook before preparing to teach their first unit.
Cluster 1: Human Geography and Regional Geographical Systems of the Americas (Lessons 1-5)
What challenges and opportunities does geography pose in different regions of the Americas?
How are Latin American people today developing sustainable and inclusive cities?
What challenges and opportunities does geography pose in different regions of the Americas?
How are Latin American people today developing sustainable and inclusive cities?
Lesson 1: Meeting the People and Places of Latin America
Lesson 2: The Identities, Features, and Regions of Latin America, Part 1
Lesson 3: The Identities, Features, and Regions of Latin America, Part 2
Lessons 4 & 5: The Challenges and Adaptations of Latin America’s Largest Cities
Cluster 2: The Americas’ Earliest Complex Societies (Lessons 6-8)
How did the earliest known American civilizations innovate with natural resources in ways that were alike or different from other complex societies?
How did the earliest known American civilizations innovate with natural resources in ways that were alike or different from other complex societies?
Lesson 6: The Oldest Complex Society of the Americas: Caral-Supe
Lessons 7 & 8: Innovation and Natural Resources: The Olmec
Cluster 3: Mesoamerian Societies: Teotihuacan and the Maya (Lessons 9-21)
How did the spaces and places built by Mesoamericans mirror what they cared about and believed?
How did Mesoamerican societies interact with and influence one another?
How did the spaces and places built by Mesoamericans mirror what they cared about and believed?
How did Mesoamerican societies interact with and influence one another?
Lessons 9 & 10: Teotihuacan: Magnificence and Mystery in the “City of the Gods”
Lesson 11: Daily Life in Sacred Spaces
Lesson 12: Teotihuacan’s Influence and Long-Distance Trade Interactions
Lesson 13 & 14: The Maya in the Mesoamerican World
Lesson 15: Sacred Places and the Meaning of a Myth
Lesson 16: Astronomers and Timekeepers Extraordinaire
Lessons 17 & 18: The Ball Game and Sacrifice
Lesson 19: Divine Rulers of the Classic City-States
Lesson 20: What Maya Writing Reveals
Lesson 21: Markets and Trade in the Maya World (A Game)
Cluster 4: Taino Culture and the Ancient Caribbean (Lessons 22-23)
How did geography and a history of migration lead ancient peoples of the Caribbean to create a unique culture? How is that culture still influential today?
How did geography and a history of migration lead ancient peoples of the Caribbean to create a unique culture? How is that culture still influential today?
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