1. Introductory Activity - Mexico Jigsaw

Research / Brainstorm activity

Assessment: Students can either create individual work, share ideas, or present to the class.

A wonderful activity as an introduction is for each student to do a search on the Web about Mexico and have each report to the class on something they learned. This is easily adaptable to the age of the students as young kids can tell about something neat they saw whereas older students can actually do some writing in a brief report, perhaps including images.

The trick is what resources do you have available. The most popular and easiest resource is the Internet. If your time on the Internet is limited, it will take some work on your part to either assemble some materials for the classroom or within your library.

Alternative: simply do a brainstorm where students share on the board a list of everything they know (or think they know) about Mexico. This is nice because it allows you to come back to their list after you finish your studies of Mexico and have them see what was right and wrong and how much more they know now.

2. The Aztecs

(Note: This ties in very well with the Odyssey team's first week in Mexico when they will be posting images of murals about Aztlan and Aztec mythology.)

Readings: The Heart of Copil, and The Eagle of Tenochtitlan (about the founding of the Aztec capital)

Assessment: Students either create their own illustrated version of the story or write a diary as if they were one of the characters in the story.

1) Preview the story for the students by explaining that the Aztecs originally lived in a land they called Aztlan. It was located in what is today northwestern Mexico/southwestern US. This story is about the adventures they had in their travels and how they discovered where they would found their city. 

2) Have students either read the stories themselves (if age-appropriate) or tell them the story yourself.

3) Review the story using questions you feel are age appropriate.

4) Assessment:

• For younger students have them create an illustration for the story based on what they thought was the most important part and write a brief explanation.

• For older students consider having them select one of the people or gods they learned about and write a one page diary as if they were that person or god.

(Note: This ties in very well with the Team's first week in Mexico when they will be visiting what remains of the lakes that surrounded Tenochtitlan and the ruins of the pyramids.

Interactive Lecture using transparencies

Assessment: Students take notes, write post cards as if they were there and writing home, and take a short quiz.

1) Preview this activity for the students with the concept that they are going to travel to the city of Tenochtitan to see the fabulous Aztec capital. They will have to travel through time as well as space. The Aztec capital was one of the five largest cities in the entire world and was incredibly beautiful and well-organized. During today's trip they will visit two key places ­ the market and the main temples.

2) For each transparency, start by having your students just describe what they see, then let them start making sense of it and guessing why it is that way or who the people are, etc. Mix in the questions and info you have here to guide you. You may want the students to take notes after each one.

1. Pretend we're sitting in the airport looking at a map before the trip - Use any WORLD MAP you have available, and guide the students through a selection of the following questions:

    

   - Where is US?- Where is Latin America?

   - Where is Mexico?- Where were the first people on earth from?

   - How did they arrive in the Americas?

   - What countries existed in the Americas when the first people arrived? (none)

   - What religion did the people of the Americas have? (many)

   - What languages did they speak? (not Spanish!)

   - What's the largest city in the world? (Tokyo has more people, but Mexico City is still the largest.)

   -Does anyone know what the old name was?

    

2. Pretend we're in the rocket hovering over the earth ­ show Transparency 1: AZTEC EMPIRE MAP (Note: This page takes a little while to load, so make yourself comfortable, get a cup of coffee, leaf through that copy of Time you've been meaning to read, and before you know it, the page will be up.)

- What do you see?- Where are we with respect to contemporary countries?

- Note that the city was built on an island - does anyone know why Tenochtitlan was built here? (They do if you did lesson 1)

- The Aztecs first really took power in 1325

- Columbus arrived in 1492

- The Spaniards under Cortes arrived in 1519 when the Aztecs were at the height of their power.

- If you're having your students take notes, perhaps they should include a copy of the big map for future reference.

c. We're just about to land ­ show Transparency 2: TENOCHTITLÁN DRAWING (Note: This page takes a while to load, so see note above, with Transparency 1)

- What do you see?

- Note - there are two key spots we'll be visiting- one is visible here (the pyramids in center), and the other is not (the market)

- What most amazed visitors to the city (the Spaniards upon their first arrival wrote of this) was the huge size of the Aztec capital: Studies indicate that the population was anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000, with 300,000 perhaps the most likely. It was the fifth largest city in the world at that time.

4. POSTCARD ONE: Have the students pretend they are sitting on this hill with their new friends (from the picture) and they are to write a post card to one of their friends or family members not on the trip with them. They should describe where they are and tell what they have learned. Perhaps you want to have them include a minimum number of facts.

    

   When they finish, have a few share them for fun

    

5. We're now walking into the city and going to visit our first destination ­ show Transparency 3: THE MARKET (Note: Same as above: this page takes a while to load. Kick back and start dreaming about how you're going to spend your next vacation.)

    

   - What do you see here?- to European eyes they had "every kind of fruit imaginable"

   - The figure in the center is most likely NOT the emperor (even though that may have been the intention of the drawer, Diego Rivera). The emperor rarely left the palace and when he did he was accompanied by many people and people bowed before him.

   It is most likely a judge because there were always numerous judges and soldiers on hand to settle disputes immediately.

   - Diego Rivera was the painter.

   - When trading, they would haggle on prices ­ there weren't any set prices.

   - Students will perhaps note the blood ­ this is a preview of what we will see next

    

6. POSTCARD TWO

    

7. We're now going to walk over to the next site ­ Transparency 4: TEMPLO MAYOR, CENTRO RITUAL (Note: You know the drill; this is going to take two shakes of a lambs tail. Long shakes.)

• What do you see? Can you guess the purpose of the buildings? (Note the blood)
• It is important to explain that the Aztecs believed that there had been a series of four suns before the current one and that each time a sun had died, all the people had died too. They believed that the gods had made many sacrifices for them and they in turn had to sacrifice blood to the fifth (the current) sun. This was thus a way of showing respect. It was also believed to be necessary to offer blood to feed the sun, otherwise it would die and all life would end. Any discussion of the sacrifices must at least be understood within this context.
• the four images painted above the entrance represent each of the frst four suns, which were, in order, the jaguar sun, the sun of wind, the sun of rain, and the sun of water
• our sun is the sun of movement or earthquakes. The image representing this and the other suns can be seen on the famous Aztec "calendar"
• the eagle, nopal, and snake represent the myths from lesson one
• the snakes represent the god Quetzalcoatl (the feathered serpent). He was the god of many things including the wind and learning
• the central pyramids are for Tlaloc (rain) and Huitzilopochtli (war). Huitzilopochtli was the god from lesson one. They both come from the pre-Aztec culture of Teotihuacan which the Odyssey Team will visit.
• The ruins of these pyramids (also to be visitied by our team) were discovered in the 60's by accident by someone working on the tunnels for the subway. They had been mostly destroyed by the Spaniards when they took the stones to build their own churches and buildings

4. POSTCARD THREE

(Note: This ties in well with the team's visits to Tula, Mt. Tlaxcala, Malinalco, Chapultepec, El Parto, and Juncos y Canas.)

Readings: The Evil of Tezcatlipoca and The Return of Quetzalcoatl (also to be posted later Thursday) (about one of the most important Aztec gods and confusion about his return when the Spaniards came)

Assessment: Students write an "editorial" debating points from the stories

The objective here is both to provide students with knowledge of important Aztec myths as well as to provide an understanding for the next unit of study ­ The Conquest ­ by having students explore the arrival of the Spaniards from the Aztec perspective.

2) Have the students pretend they are writing an editorial for a newspaper (or simply lead a class discussion) on whether they believe it is or is not Quetzalcoatl who has arrived and what the Aztecs should do. (Should they run away? Send him gifts? Try to kill him? Etc.) They can only use information from the stories to support their opinion.