Introduction
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkTaSiAmnwg]
The Mayan culture can be traced as far back as 2000 B.C. The Maya consist of groups of Meso-American people who speak various forms of the Mayan language. In ancient times, a king governed each Mayan city and its surrounding area. Sometimes kings declared war on neighboring cities to expand their power and increase their wealth. The Maya built more than 40 great cities, created beautiful art, and made advances in math, science, and record keeping.
Task
The ancient Mayan civilization disappeared with the collapse of their major cities, but the Mayans left behind temples, writings and a calendar that is still studied today. Ancient Mayans lived over an extensive area in Mesoamerica. They descended from even more ancient peoples and were eventually integrated into a different culture. Descendants of these mysterious people survive in Mexico today.
Visiting the Mayan ruins is one of the most popular attractions when visiting Mexico.
For this task, you and your group will design a guided tour of Chichen Itza. You will write the tour guide speech and create an advertisement to ‘sell’ the tour. The tour should cover the history of the Mayans as well as their science and architecture.
The advertisement should illustrate the artistic style of the Mayans while including tour highlights. The advertisement can be done on posterboard or on a computer. Interactive posters can be made using free online tools like Glogster.
Process
You are to answer the questions listed below to become familiar with the Mayan culture in general and begin to understand some of the amazing advances the Mayans made during their 3,000-year existence. The resulting information will be useful to create the speech for the 'tour guide.' Specific websites are provided to you for you to use.
- What modern countries contain part of the ancient Mayan kingdom?
- When did the Mayan civilization begin?
- Name two sciences studied by the Mayans.
- How many calendar systems did the Mayans create? Name them.
- What was each calendar used for?
- How many symbols did Mayans use to write numbers?
- Why are there so few examples of Mayan writing in existence today?
- What number did the Mayans have that had not been used in any other number system up to that time? Why is this important?
- What types of celestial events could Mayans predict?
- What materials did the Mayans use to build the pyramids and temples?
- What were Mayan pyramids used for?
- Name two other structures built in the city of Chichen Itza.
- What types of tools did the Mayans use? What did they not use?
- What is bilateral symmetry? How does this relate to Mayan architecture?
You should use the following websites to conduct your research:
- MayanKids.com
- AuthenticMaya.com
- DigitalMeesh.com, Ancient Maya
- KidsKonnect.com, Ancient Mayan Civilization
- FacStaff by Georgia Perimeter College, Mayan Civilization
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on each of the three parts of the project.
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A |
B |
C |
D |
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Accuracy of questions |
Many details for all of the questions, plus additional information |
Detailed answers for at all of the questions |
Answers for the majority of the questions |
Half or less than half of the questions answered |
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Length and details of the tour guide
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Two pages written and illustrations are included as part of the tour presentation.
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At least two written pages with many details and illustrations are included. |
Two-page speech with more details. |
One page or less written speech with few details. |
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Creativity of the advertisement |
A 'virtual tour' with the highlights of the guided tour included. Students thought out of the box and the project is outstanding. |
An advertisement with highlights and photos. Project is creative. |
Poster board advertisement with details and color. Creativity is attempted. |
Poster board advertisement with few details and little color. Project lacks creativity. |
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Works Cited |
Included works cited in MLA format |
X |
X |
Did not include works cited in MLA format |
Conclusion
The Mayans are a very fascinating culture. Researchers, linguists, and scientists have made breakthrough discoveries only recently that have helped us understand the complexity and the beauty of this incredible culture.
Reflection (students are to complete individually):
- What is the most interesting fact you learned about the Mayan culture?
- Has the study of the Maya made you look at or think about your own culture in a different way?
- What further study might you like to do in the study of the ancient Maya?