Modified The Mayan Empire

1. The Mayan I can describe elements of Mayan culture and how they adapted the environment to their needs.

2. Warm-Up Back when we learned about Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc. we learned about the characteristics of a civilization through ASPIRE. Using the hints provided, what are the different elements of ASPIRE?

4. Mayan Brain-Pop Step 1: Watch the Maya Civilization Brain-Pop Step 2: Fill-in any aspects of ASPIRE you hear or see in the video clip

5. Achievements

6. Astronomy Language & Writing Directions: Place the achievements of the Mayans in order from least to most important! Be ready to defend which achievement you choose as the most important! Achievements Calendar Art & Architecture Mathematics Least important achievement Most important achievement Which achievement of the Mayan do you feel is the most important? Why?

7. Social Structure

8. Acted as scribes, performed rituals The Ruler Social Structure Directions: Drag the description to the correct Social Class of the Mayan Civilization! Farmers, but also builders & soldiers Traded, created pottery, art, cloth Nobles & Priests Ruled city-state, declared war Merchants & Artisans Labored, no pay or freedom Peasants Slaves

9. Describe the Mayan Government based on the reading. Type inside of the circles! Politics Ancient Mayans believed their rulers were like gods. As a result, those rulers kept power within their families. This sometimes meant there were women rulers. A woman could rule if her son wasn’t old enough or the ruler was away at war. Each Mayan city-state had its own ruler who held all of the power. One ruler who inherits power (Monarchy) Type Here Mayan Government Type Here

10. Interactions with the Environment To survive, the Maya needed to learn to farm in the mountains, swamps, and jungles. Mountains • Built terraces, or steps, into the hills to plant crops Swamps • Built platforms out of dirt with canals to collect extra rainwater Jungles • Used slash-and-burn agriculture: cut & burned trees then planted crops • This type of farming wears out the soil and it needs time to rest/recover • A lot of land was needed to farm since some land was recovering The Maya farming system worked while city-states were spread-out and small. As populations grew, the Maya had trouble raising enough food to feed everyone.

11. Built steps into hills and mountains to farm Interactions with the Environment Built platforms from dirt with canals to collect rain Cut & burned trees, crops could not grow well in the bad soil

12. True or False T or F The Maya believed in one god. T or F The Maya were polytheistic. T or F The Maya believed the gods controlled everything. T or F The Maya did not need to honor the gods with offerings or sacrifices. Religion The Maya were polytheistic, or believed in many gods. The Maya believed in more than 160 gods, but the main Gods controlled things such as rain, corn, and death. The Maya believed that the gods had created the world and could change or destroy it. The same god that sent rain for crops to grow could also ruin the crops with hail. So, it was very important to honor the gods. Priests played an important role in religion, including performing sacrifices and conducting ceremonies. The Maya honored their gods with offerings such as plants, food, flowers, feathers, jade, and shells. The Maya believed that blood gave the gods strength, so they also made blood offerings by sacrificing animals and, sometimes, humans.

13. FILL-IN-THE-BLANK The Mayan economy was based mostly on __________________. Peasants grew crops like ________ or corn, squash, and beans. To help city-states thrive, some Mayans ___________________ or exchanged goods. They were able to trade by traveling by sea, river, and over well-made _____________. Economics The Mayan economy was based mostly on farming, but trade and crafts were also important. Peasants worked hard to farm the land, growing maize, squash, beans, and other crops to feed the people. During the growing season, men spent most of the day in the fields. Women usually stayed closer to home, preparing food, weaving, and sewing. The Maya were great traders, traveling by sea, river, and well-made roads to trade with other city-states. Merchants traded valuable products from different areas of the region. These products included stones like jade and quetzals, birds whose shiny green feathers were used in headdresses. maize farming traded roads

14. Mayan One-Pager Directions: On the next slide, you are going to create a one-pager about the Mayan Civilization! Be sure to answer each question/complete each box. If time allows, you may add color, design, and additional images. *Yes, you may use all of your Google Slides to help : )

15. Find a picture that best represents the Mayans (Go to Insert -> Image -> Search the web) (Delete all this text when you find the picture) Rank the top 2 achievements of the Mayans: #1 #2 What is 1 similarity between the Mayans and our culture today? The Mayans Find or draw a picture of the #1 achievement of the Maya! The Mayans were POLYTHEISTIC! What does polytheistic mean? Who had the most power in Mayan society? FUN FACT! (Delete these instructions and type the most interesting thing you learned about the Mayans) What are TWO ways the Mayans farmed? 1. 2.