PreColumbian Life Mayan Aztec Incas and the Age

Pre-Columbian Life, Mayan, Aztec, Inca’s and the Age of Exploration Adapted by Ms. Hall from S. Gerhardt

• Objective: – SWBAT describe what life was like in pre-Columbian life • Do Now: – Before people developed civilizations how did people get their food? ____________________________ – What were these people called? ____________ • Activity: – Brain pop/ unitedstreaming clip • Homework: Pretend that you have left your family to go explore Write a letter to them explaining what you see. Assessment: Collection of Brain Pop activities

• It is believed that there was a narrow strip of land called the Bering Strait which was located where the Bering Sea is now. Scientist believe that back during the time of the Ice Age people walked across the Bering Strait in search for food. They believed these people were hunters and they were searching for food. These hunters are believed to be the 1 st American. They became known as Nomads, which are people who move from place to place. There use to be land here

Civilizations start to develop! • Over thousands of years people started to learn a new way of life and started to settle around rivers. They learned how to farm and develop irrigation systems. An irrigation system is a human made ditch that carried water from the rivers to the fields to water the crops. This was a very important development for this period of time. Without the irrigation system people would have to continue to hunt for food.

Since People were able to farm this changed life: Food surplus was more predictable Fewer people died of hunger Populations increased Farms grew People were able to start specializing in different jobs • Small villages were able to develop into larger communities and form governments • • •

Brain pop

Mayans • Objective: – SWBAT describe Mayan life and their achievements • Do Now: – How did the 1 st people get to the Americas? • Activity: – Mayan Civilization – Write your name in the Mayan’s written language • Assessment: – Collection of vocab sheets and 5 W’s and H chart • Homework: – Finish your name if you didn’t in class.

Maya: 300 -900 A. D. • Mayan homeland stretched from southern Mexico into northern Central America – Yucatan Peninsula • Divided into individual city-states , ruled by a god-king • Mayan cities featured giant pyramids, temples and stone carvings dedicated to the gods

Agriculture & Trade • Mayan city-states traded with each other (salt, feathers, shells and honey) • Had no uniform currency but cacao beans (chocolate) sometimes served as one • Grew corn, beans and squash (used slash-burn agriculture )

Religion Shapes Mayan Life • Mayans were polytheistic, which means? ___________ • There were gods of corn, death, rain and war • They prayed and made offerings of food, flowers and blood. • Human sacrifice was also used to please the gods and kept the world in balance This was calendar to know when to practice religious ceremonies

Calendar & Glyphs • Mayans created a 365 -day solar calendar (Eighteen 20 day months, with a separate period of 5 days at the end) • Based their calendar on careful observations of the planets, sun and moon • Calendar helped identify the best time to plant crops, attack enemies and crown rulers

Activity: Write Hello in the Mayan written language

Mysterious Mayan Decline • Mayan decline ended in mystery • In the late 800 s Mayan cities were suddenly abandoned • Experts believe many theories: famine, disease and warfare disrupting trade

• Objective: – SWBAT describe Aztec life • Do Now: – What is 2 things you remember about the Mayans? ________________________ • Activity: – Brain pop Aztec Civilization • Assessment: – Collect Brian Pop vocab and matching Homework: – Aztec— pyramid chart

Rise of the Aztec • Located in the Valley of Mexico • Established their capital city of Tenochtitlan on Lake Texacoco in 1315 (present day Mexico City) • There they would rule until the Spanish conquered them

Chinampas • “Floating Islands” Rectangular shaped man made islands used to grow crops

Aztec Religion – As an agricultural (_____) people, the Aztec depended heavily on the forces of nature and worshiped them as gods – The Aztec believed that the caring gods must be kept strong to prevent the evil gods from destroying the world they kept the gods happy through human sacrifice • Human Sacrifice – Victims of sacrifice were usually prisoners of war, although Aztec warriors would sometimes volunteer for the more important sacrificial rituals

Spanish Conquest – In 1519 Spanish explorer Hernándo Cortés and more than 500 Spaniards landed in eastern Mexico in search of land gold – Kidnaps Aztec leader Montezuma for a gold ransom • Conquered all of the Aztec by 1525 • 1/3 of population killed – Mostly from small pox ( a disease the Europeans had) • Survivors forced into labor mining for gold or working on the estates of the Spaniards

• Objective: – SWBAT describe the Inca rise and fall • Do now: – Name 2 things about the Aztecs • Activity: • – Brain pop (p) – Chapter 18 The Incas: Kingdom of the Sun (s) Assessment: – (p) Collect Brian Pop activity – (s) Reflective Journal on Chap 18 (AVID book p 30) • Homework: – (p) Building Block of a Civilization – (s) Incas —Early Civ in Asia, Africa, and the Americas pg 126 answer questions at end

Rise of the Incas: • 1300 s, the Inca were only a small community in the area of Cuzco • Cuzco, a city located at 11, 000 feet in the mountains of southern Peru • 1440 s under the leadership of Pachacuti, the Inca launched a campaign of conquest.

Incan Government • Incan emperor exercised absolute rule and was the chief religious leader • What is an absolute ruler? ________________________ • Claimed he was godly – the son of the sun itself • As a god-king he owned all the land, herds mines and the people • From the mountain capital of Cuzco, the Incas ran an efficient government • Nobles ruled over the region of the Incan Empire • Local officials carried out the day to day business of collecting taxes and enforcing laws

Religion of the Inca • Polytheistic – worshiped many gods linked to the forces of nature • What does monotheistic mean? ____________ • Religion was tied to the routines of life – each month had its own festival • Dance of the Young Maize (corn) and the festival of water

Accomplishments of the Inca • All Roads Lead to Cuzco • United large empire through a complex road system • Roads ran more than 12, 000 miles through mountains and deserts • Roads allowed armies and news to move quickly throughout the empire • Terrace Farming: – On steep hillsides they carved out strips of land to be held in place by stone walls in order to farm

Spanish Conquest • Francisco Pizarro, Spanish explorer, arrived in Peru in 1532 • Kidnapped Incan emperor for ransom • Incas paid but Pizarro killed the Incan emperor anyway

Reflective Journal What I Did What I learned What Questions do I have? What Surprised Me Overall Response:

• Objective: – SWBAT list the reasons for the Age of Exploration and Spanish Conquest in Latin America • Do Now: – How did the Mayan, Aztec and Incan empires all fall? ________________________ • Activity: – Brain pop The Conquistadors • Assessment: – Collection of 5 w’s and H Chart • Homework: – (s)Napp- The Age of Exploration or The Conquistadors – (p) Brain pop Activity

The Age of Exploration • The age of exploration is when countries started to explore the world. This is the time of Christopher Columbus. New technologies such as the compass allowed ships to travel. • Major Explorers and Maps • The exploration lead to conquest. (what does conquest mean? ______________)

Famous Spanish Conquistadors • • • Francisco Pizarro Vasco Nunez de Balboa Juan Ponce de Leon Francisco Vasquez de Coronado Hernando De Soto Hernando Cortes

Reason for Conquest • New technologies such as the compass and astrolabe (both helped tell what direction the boat was going in and what time it was. • Carvel- a new and improved boat that allowed for sailing longer trips. (all new technologies led to more exploration) • Wealth – the Europeans wanted gold, silver and spices • The Europeans wanted Power • The Europeans wanted to Increase their opportunities for Spanish trade • The Europeans wanted to Spread the Catholic Religion to natives • Encomienda system was a system of the Spaniards forcing the natives work the land to produce the natural resources to send back to the mother country to produce goods. • The Europeans wanted to Build a Spanish Empire • What does this sound similar to? _______________

Columbian Exchange Americas to Europe, Africa & Asia • Corn • Tomatoes • Turkeys • Pumpkins • Tobacco • Pineapples • Peppers Africa, Asia & Europe to Americas • Disease (small pox) • Livestock (sheep, pigs and horses) • Grains (wheat and rice) • Peaches • Coffee beans • Onions • Bananas • Sugar

• Ms. G’s Columbian exchange handout (only read the Columbian Exchange Article and answer the questions that follow