Starter quiz
- Match the word to its meaning.
- Maya⇔indigenous people of Mesoamerica ✓
- Mesoamerica⇔a region encompassing parts of Central America ✓
- Honduras⇔a country in Central America ✓
- Maya cities typically had a ceremonial centre. What other features were also found in most cities?
- ball court ✓
- temple-pyramids ✓
- car parks
- palaces ✓
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- What is a stela?
- a form of traditional clothing worn by Maya priests during ceremonies
- a standing stone or column typically with carvings, or hieroglyphs ✓
- a type of ancient musical instrument used by the Maya
- a type of ancient writing tool made from reeds
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- Why did the Maya practice bloodletting?
- to speak to the gods ✓
- to punish criminals
- to donate blood to sick people
- to give thanks to the gods ✓
-
- The Maya used seeds from the ______ plant to make hot chocolate.
- 'cacao' ✓
- The Maya thought that maize was a sacred crop; it was used to make flat pancakes called ...
- 'tortillas' ✓
Exit quiz
- The Maya believed that the gods lived in the sky. That is why they tracked the movements of ...
- clouds
- birds
- celestial bodies ✓
- aeroplanes
-
- A chart that we use to keep track of days, weeks, months and years is called a ...
- 'calendar' ✓
- A ______ is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time.
- 'cycle' ✓
- What purpose did calendars NOT have for the Maya?
- to plan when to hold special ceremonies
- to plan when to plant and harvest maize
- to track the migration patterns of birds ✓
- to predict the future
- to record historical events
-
- ______ was essentially the written language of the Maya, made up of symbols that represented sounds, words and concepts.
- alphabetics
- hieroglyphics ✓
- calligraphy
- cuneiform
-
- Match the Maya calendar to its function.
- Haab⇔a solar calendar ✓
- Tzolk'in⇔a sacred calendar ✓
- Long Calendar⇔a linear calendar ✓
Worksheet
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Presentation
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Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The Maya believed the sky was where the gods lived; watching it carefully they tracked the movement of celestial bodies.
- The Maya had lots of different calendars, some were based on these movements, others on the time it took maize to grow.
- The Maya used these calendars to make sure they carried out religious ceremonies at the right times and to measure time.
- The Maya used cycles to measure time, so their calendars were circular and relied on great mathematical understanding.
- Using these calendars, the Maya recorded the dates of when important things happened, using their hieroglyphic writing.
Common misconception
The Maya had just one calendar.
They actually used several interconnected calendars. The most notable ones are the Tzolk'in (a 260-day ceremonial calendar), the Haab' (a 365-day solar calendar), and the Long Count calendar, which tracked longer periods of time.
Keywords
Celestial body - a celestial body is an object in space, like a star, planet, moon, or comet
Calendar - a calendar is a chart that's used to keep track of days, weeks, months and years
Cycle - a cycle is a sequence of events that occur repeatedly and follow the same pattern each time
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