IMPORTANT PEOPLE

The people mentioned in this book played important roles in the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the ancient Maya civilization. Have your students research and write up biographical sketches of one or more of these people.

*The Olmec
* Charles V, King of Spain
*Diego de Landa
*Pacal II
*Hernan Cortes
*Snake Jaguar
*John Lloyd Stephens
*Frederick Catherwood
*Shield Jaguar the Great
*Spanish Conquistadors

IMPORTANT RESOURCES

How did the Maya use these?

Cau-uchu (rubber) trees
Chicle (sapodilla sap)
Copal (sap)
Maize (corn)
Conch shell
Jadeite
Cacao (chocolate)
Pyramid
Tumpline
Rainforest
Plumb bob
Stelae
Codices
Limestone
Backstrap loom
Spindle whorl
Obsidian

 

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

To play this game, ask your students to decide if they "Believe It" or "Not" before you share the correct answer!

1. The Maya ate red rice and beans with every meal -- (N)

2. The ancient Maya made huge pyramids from limestone rocks, without metal tools -- (BI)

3. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovering Maya ruins during his sail to the New World -- (N)

4. The ancient Maya hung balls of wax between the eyes of their babies in the hopes their eyes would permanently cross -- (BI)

5. The ancient Maya played lots of instruments during city-wide sacrifice ceremonies--including
the guitar -- (N)

6. The ancient Maya could count into the millions--using just three numerical symbols -- (BI)

7. The ancient Maya were the only people of their time to develop a complex writing system -- (BI)

8. The ancient Maya kings and queens often cut their bodies with shark's teeth and other sharp objects to offer their blood to the gods -- (BI)

 

 

 

MAPS & TIMELINES

Put up a large map of Central America on your bulletin board (or enlarge the map provided on page 82 of the book). Ask students to identify the countries in which the Maya lived. Then ask your students to mark the location of the Maya city ruins that have been uncovered by archeologists. On a long piece of white paper, ask your students to mark down important dates in the rise and fall of the ancient Maya civilization.

Have each student make their own ruin map of the Maya homeland, using salt dough. Instructions are on page 84 of the book. They can then identify the ruins with little flags made from toothpicks. After the salt dough has dried, the students can paint the countries and the surrounding bodies of water (Gulf of Mexico, Pacific Ocean, and Caribbean Sea).

KIDS LIKE US

In this exercise, you will ask your students to see themselves as residents of the once-great Maya cities.

Ask each student to select a role: king, scribe, merchant, priest, shaman, worker, or slave.

Have each student write a 1-page report that describes their Maya life for the day. What did they wear? Eat? What did they see around them? What work did they do? Did anything exciting, sad, or bad happen to them?

WORDS TO KNOW

Have your students define these words
and use them in a sentence:

Witz
Pok-A-Tok
Epigrapher
Hieroglyph
Chichen Itza
Mesoamerica
Polytheism
Archeologist
Self-mutilation

IMPORTANT MAYA GODS

Why did the Maya worship these gods?

Hunab-Ku (created the world)
Itzamna (introduced Maya to writing
and medicine)
Chaac (god of agriculture and rain)
Kinich-Ahau (god of the sun)
Yum-Kaax (god of corn)
Ixchel (goddess of fertility and childbirth)
Yat Balam (god of war)
Ek-Chuah (god of merchants)
Ah-Puch (god of death)

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