This picture represents the hierarchy of the complex social structure that the Mayans had.

Mayan Social StructureThe Maya had a complex social structure. The upper and lower classes led very different lives.

Upper Class:•Kings held the highest position. •Priests, warriors, and merchants made up the upper class.The Maya believed that their rulers were related to the gods. •Men and women could be rulers, but they had to have been born into a royal family. •Priests were also born into their roles. Priests were highly educated. They used their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics to plan religious ceremonies. •The warriors fought the battles and the merchants directed trade. Together, these four groups controlled political, economic, and religious life for the Maya.

Lower Class:Most Maya belonged to lower-class farming families. They lived in little houses outside the cities. •Girls were taught to run the household. Men hunted and farmed. •Maya farmers were required to serve the upper class. They had to give up some of their crops and make goods for the upper class. •They were also used as labor to build temples. Slaves held the lowest position in Maya society.

Mayan CommunicationThe Maya developed an advanced form of writing consisting of many symbols. These symbols represented combinations of sounds or entire ideas and formed a kind of hieroglyphic (picture) writing. These symbols were used on stone monuments and books to record information about religious ceremonies, important events and astronomy.

Use this Mayan alphabet translator to test your group member’s ability to decipher the Mayan alphabet. Secretly choose one word, type it into the translator, and have your group members decipher the word.

Mayan Numeric SystemMaya used a numeric system based on the number 20

instead of the number 10 as in the decimal system that we use. Dots and dashes represent numbers and a special symbol represented zero. Mathematicians consider zero one of the world’s greatest inventions, and they credit the Mayans for this accomplishment.

Collapse of the Mayan CivilizationSometime around 900 CE, most of the southern Maya

city-states were abruptly abandoned. We know this because large-scale architecture, as well as record-keeping inscriptions, suddenly stopped in these places.

Nobody knows why this happened. Here are some theories:

• The cities over-exploited the natural resources of the surrounding areas, exhausting the farmland’s capacity to grow and deforesting the jungle.

• Widespread war or peasant revolt against the ruling class

• A drought forced the population to migrate.

Such a widespread systemic collapse was probably not caused by a single factor, which is why many scholars subscribe to a combination of some or all of the major theories.

1. Go to the BrainPop app on your iPod.2. Search for Mayan Civilization. 3. Click the bottom of the page to login:

Username- wbrparishPassword- wbr061

4. Watch the video and complete the 5 W’s + H chart.

Social Structure:1. If your family was a lower-class farming family in the Mayan culture, how

would your life be different than that of the Upper class?

2. Why does this picture represent the Mayan social structure?

Communication: 3. Compare and contrast the Mayan form of written communication with our

written communication.

Mayan Civilization

Numeric System1. Draw the symbols to represent the number 37. Tell why you think this is

correct.

Mayan Civilization Collapse:2. How could each of these theories explain the Mayan disappearance?

• Over-exploitation of natural resources:

• War or revolt:

• Drought:

BrainPop Video: Maya Civilization

Foundation of the Aztec Empire

The Flag of Mexico, as it is today, was adopted in 1968. But Mexican flag history really goes back over 600 years earlier than that.

In the early 1300s, so the story goes, the wandering tribe of Mexica people were looking for a home. Persecuted and cast out from other nations, they believed that their god, Huitzilopochtli, would show them a sign - to guide them to their new settlement. The Mexica people (who would become part of the mighty Aztec Empire) believed that they would see an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus, and that's where they would build their new city.

According to the legend the Mexica people did indeed see the sign - but it was on an unlikely spot. A small, swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

When the Mexica saw this symbol of the empire - an eagle on a cactus, they misinterpreted the red and blue currents coming from the eagle's mouth. Someone thought it was a snake, and the symbolism of the eagle and snake stuck.

Aztec Agriculture:Tenochtitlan seemed like an unlikely place for a city. Not only was the island small and difficult to access, the lake itself was salty. But the Aztecs knew how to make the best out of a seemingly bad situation. Soon causeways were built leading to the city, making it accessible to merchants and travelers but easy to defend in case of an attack. Aqueducts were built, providing the city with fresh water. A system of agriculture developed, making the area extremely fruitful and efficient, providing the city with food. This method of farming was called chinampas.

As the city was built, roadways grew up and parts of the lake were filled in. Tenochtitlan was to become the "Venice of the New World", a series of canals, city and farmland, well planned, equal or better than any city in the world.

Aztec Religion

Aztecs were polytheists. That is they worshipped many gods. There was one thing that was the number one concern; one thing that governed every day of their lives; one thing that was most important to all of the people, nobility and commoners alike: PLEASING THE GODS.

The Aztecs believed that the gods needed to be 'fed' with human hearts and blood, so prisoners were sacrificed by having their hearts cut out.

Among the most important gods were Huitzilopochtli, god of war and the sun, Tlaloc the god of rain (if there was a drought the Aztecs sacrificed babies to the rain god, believing their babies tears would bring rain) and Quetzalcoatl (whose name means feathered snake), the god of learning and wind.

The Aztecs believed that warriors who died in battle and people who were sacrificed and women who died in childbirth went to join the sun god in paradise. For everyone else there were 13 Heavens and 9 Hells. After your death you went to the one most suitable for you.

Fall of the Aztec Empire:

In 1492 the Spaniards discovered the new world. The end for the Aztec Empire came when the governor of Cuba sent an army under Hernan Cortes (1485-1547) to conquer Mexico.

They believed that their god Quetzalcoatl had once left Mexico by sea and promised to return one day. According to legend Quetzalcoatl would return from the east in the year one reed. (The Aztecs measured time in cycles of 52 years. One year of the cycle was one reed). By an astonishing coincidence one reed fell on 1519 - the year Cortes arrived.The Aztec emperor Motecuhzoma feared that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl. He dared not attack a god and so took no action against the Aztecs. By the time the Aztecs realized the truth it was too late.

Foundation of the Aztec Empire:1. What is the significance of the symbols on the Mexican flag?

Aztec Agriculture:2. How did the Aztecs make the most of their land?

Aztec Religion:3. Why did the Aztecs believe that pleasing the gods was important?

4. Why was it an honor to be sacrificed?

The Fall of the Aztec Empire:5. How did the Aztecs’ religious beliefs lead to their collapse?

AZTEC Civilization

1. Go to the BrainPop app on your iPod.2. Search for Aztec Civilization. 3. Click the bottom of the page to login:

Username- wbrparishPassword- wbr061

4. Watch the video and complete the pyramid chart.

Brainpop Video: Aztec Civilization

The Incan Empire was located on the western side of South America. Although the Empire was huge, it can be easily divided into three geographical regions - mountains, jungle, and desert.

Andes Mountains: North to south were the Andes Mountains - home of the Inca civilization. The mountains dominated Incan society. The mountain peaks were worshiped as gods.

The Incas invented terrace gardening. They carved steps of flat land up the side of the mountain to create flat land for farming. The terraces also helped to keep rainwater from running off. They reduced erosion. The government built raised aqueducts to carry water to farmlands for irrigation.

Inca Geography and Agriculture:

Inca Religion:

Gods and Goddesses: The Incas were known as the "Children of the Sun". They worshiped gods of nature - the sun god, the god of thunder, Moon, rainbows, mountain tops, stars, planets, and many more. Like the ancient Greeks, the Incas believed the gods could intervene to help you or hinder you. To avoid problems, they worshiped all the gods every day.

Dreams, Omens, Signs: The Incas believed that the gods and their dead ancestors could communicate with them through dreams, omens, and other signs. The priests were very powerful because people believed they could read the signs. Priests saw signs everywhere. They could read signs in the flames of a fire, or in the way a plant grew. Every decision, no matter how small was determined by the priest, based upon the signs he received from the gods.

Imagine that all of your decisions were made based upon a sign….the flipping of a coin, perhaps. Go to this interactive coin toss . Flip the coin to find your way back to the classroom. Do not use your own judgment. Follow the signs of the coin. Heads- go left one step; Tails- go right one step.Did you make it?

Inca Government

The Sapa Inca was all-powerful. He ruled everything. He made all the laws. Everything was the responsibility of the Sapa Inca, and nothing could be done until the Sapa Inca approved it. How did the Sapa Inca rule 12 million people all by himself? That's easy. He didn't. The Sapa Inca organized his government in a pyramid.

Alone at the top of the pyramid was the Sapa IncaSupreme Council (4 men)

Provincial Governors

Officials (army officers, priests, judges, and others from the noble class) These individuals could ride in a litter and had other special privileges not enjoyed by the general population.

Tax collectors. There were several levels of tax collectors. There was one tax collector for every ayllu (for every family group.) That tax collector reported to a collector higher up the scale who might be in charge of 10 ayllus. And so it went. Tax collectors could be in charge of 100 people or 10,000 people. Their rung on the social scale was measured accordingly.

Workers. At the bottom of the pyramid were the workers. Workers were organized into family units called ayllus. Most of the people in the Inca Empire were workers.

When the Sapa Inca made a new law, he told the top tax collectors. They told the tax collectors who reported to them, who told the next level down, and so on, until everyone every farmer and every family in the empire heard the news. Since the workers could not vote or voice an opinion, that was the end of it until the Inca made a new law. Word would come down. If you broke any Inca law, punishment was harsh and swift. The Sapa Inca put his relatives in positions of power. You could work your way up. But mostly, the government officials were members of the royal family and the nobility. It was easy to tell if someone in charge was a royal or not. When the royals were young children, boards were strapped to their heads. This was not painful, but their head grew almost into a point. To the Incas, pointed heads were symbols of beauty and prestige.

The Fall of the Inca Empire:

The Incas mined for gold and silver, which ultimately brought the empire to an end, as Spanish conquistadors were eager to become rich for themselves and the Crown.

The collapse of Inca civilization came with Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Pizarro and his men captured the Sapa Inca, Atahualpa. In return for the emperor’s release, the Incan people gave the Conquistadors room full of gold and silver. The Conquistadors took the gold and silver and killed the Emperor anyway.

Pizzaro and his men returned to Spain with the gold and silver. They put together an army of Spaniards and returned to conquer the Incas.

What killed the Incas wasn't much warfare in itself, even though they didn't have guns or cannons, but rampant disease that Spaniards brought back with them.

Spaniards brought Smallpox - among other diseases - the single most devastating loss of life in the New World Indian cultures, from Mexico all the way to the south.

1. Go to the BrainPop app on your iPod.2. Search for Inca Civilization. 3. Click the bottom of the page to login:

Username- wbrparishPassword- wbr061

4. Watch the video and complete the Building Blocks chart.

Inca Agriculture:1. What are benefits and challenges of terrace farming?

Inca Religion:2. If you were an Inca farmer, how would you decide the best day to plant

your maize?

3. What problems do you think the Incas encountered by not exercising their own judgment?

INCA Civilization

Inca Government:1. Compare and contrast the Inca government with our

government.

Fall of the Inca Empire1. What role did greed play in the fall of the Inca Empire?

Brainpop Video: Inca Civilization