INTRODUCTION

King Charles of Spain has sent the conquistadors, Francisco Pizarro and Hernando Cortes on voyages of exploration to Central and South America .  You have been assigned to travel with either Francisco Pizarro or Hernando Cortes to explore the cultures of the Incas, Aztecs, and the Mayans, and you are to bring back information on the customs and culture of these tribes to King Charles.  You will need to describe their religion, government, architecture, arts, food, and scientific advancements so that the King will be able to better understand his new subjects.  

TASK

You will be divided into three groups:  Aztec, Inca, and Mayan.  Each group will need to research a civilization and its Conquistador.  King Charles of Spain will 
need to know how their government had been organized, what crops they grew, 
what their religion was like, what the land was like and what technology   
they developed.   The topics listed below also have questions that King Charles 
may ask you. You may use these questions as guides for your research, 
but you may also think of questions of your own.

Governmental Systems

* How were they ruled?

* What kind of currency did they use?

* Did they have a judicial system?

* What was the name of their capital?  What did it look like?

* Did they have slaves?

* Were they warlike or peaceful?

* What was their class system like?

Religion

* What gods and goddesses did they worship?

* Which were the most important gods and goddesses?

* How did they practice their religion?

* What role did the priests play in their society?

Arts and Architecture

* What did their houses look like?

* What did their temples look like?

* What material did they use to build with?

* How were their cities laid out?

* Did their designs mean anything?

* What metals did they use and why?

* What did their clothing look like?

           
            
Agriculture

* What crops did they grow?

* How did they farm? 

* What did they eat?

* How did they water their crops?

* What tools did they use in farming?

* What animals did they hunt?

* What tools did they need to hunt?

Science and Math

* How did their mathematical system work?

* How did their calendars work?  What did they look like?

* What did their counting or math look like and how did it work?

* What technology did they use?

* What kind of writing system did they use?  Can you write someone’s name?

Conquistadors:

Francisco Pizzaro:

* What kind of person was he?  

* Why did he become an explorer?

* How did he treat the different civilizations that he found?

* Where else did he explore?

Hernando Cortes:

* What kind of person was he? 

* Why did he become an explorer?

* How did he treat the different civilizations that he found?

* Where else did he explore?

Each group will produce a PowerPoint Presentation (PPP) to present to 
King Charles describing the civilization that you have researched.  Your goal 
is to provide the King with as much information as he needs, to understand 
how each civilization functions.

PROCESS

RESEARCH:

 1.      Brainstorm together what you already know about your civilization.  Think of what else 
you need to know to complete this assignment, and make a list of your questions.  
Use the graphic organizers to make a list of your questions.

2.      Just like the explorers, you will need to divide up your group so that you can work more efficiently, even though you will be working independently within your group. 

* Each member should choose at least one topic to research. 
* Each member will need to type his/her own information into the PPP.
* Each member will present what he/she has learned to King Charles.  
(The King may ask you questions on your topic even though you have not included that information in your presentation.)

3.      Each of you will be responsible for your own research, taking notes, and writing your rough draft.  Use the Note-Taking Form when you do your research.

The groups researching the Aztecs and the Incas will begin your research using books and encyclopedias available in the library.  The group researching the Mayans will begin their research in the computer lab using only the websites on this webquest.  Don’t worry if you cannot find as much information as you need, as you will have another chance using the library books or the Internet.  After two days, the groups will switch so that the Aztecs and Incas groups will be in the computer lab, and the Mayan group will be in the library. 

RESOURCES:

  LIBRARY BOOKS

Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas

 The Art of the Americas before Columbus (See)

Aztec, Inca & Maya (Baquedana)

Calendars of Native Americans: Timekeeping Methods (George)

The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Americas (Southwater)

Mayas-Aztecs-Incas: Cooperative Learning Activities (Strohl)

Aztecs

A Day With an Aztec (Gozalbo)

Aztec News (Steele)

The Aztecs (Berdan)

The Aztecs (Shepherd)

Fall of the Aztec-Maya Empires (video)

How to Be An Aztec Warrior  (Macdonald)

How Would You Survive as an Aztec? (MacDonald)

Montezuma and the Fall of the Aztecs (Kimmel)

Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon (Fisher)

Technology in the Time of the Aztecs (Morgan)

What Do We Know About the Aztecs?  (Defrates)

What the Aztecs Told Me (Libura)

You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice (McDonald)

Mayas

Fall of the Aztec-Maya Empires (video)

The Maya (Greene)

The Maya (Trout)

Mayan Writing in Mesoamerica (Fine)

The Mayas (Gassos)

Technology in the Time of the Maya (Crosher)

Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization (Day)

Incas

The Inca (Corrick)

The Inca City of Cuzco (Saunders)

Inca Town (Macdonald)

An Incan Farmer  (Morrison)

The Incas (Rees)

The Incas and Machu Picchu (Steele)

Conquistadors

Cortes and the Conquest of the Aztec Empire in World History (Flowers)

Hernando Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico (DeAngelis)

Francisco Pizarro and the Conquest of the Incas (DeAngelis)

Internet   

Mayan Websites

General:                                                                                                  

http://www.mayankids.com/mkintro.htm  -  Mayankids (Excellent and easy to use.)

http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mminteng.html  -  Mystery of the Mayans

http://www.indians.org/welker/maya.htm  -  Mayan Civilization

http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/maya/eg_maya_project2a.html  -  Mayan Daily Life

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayan.html  -  Mayan Civilization 
(This website is very good, but it may have more information than you may want or need.)

Art and Architecture:  

http://www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mmc02eng.html  -  Cities of the Ancient Mayans

http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/chichen/chichen_index.html  -  Mayan city

http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/mayan.htm  -  Mayan architecture

Math and Technology:

http://www.michielb.nl/maya/math.html  -  Mayan math with conversion examples

http://www.scns.com/earthen/other/seanachaidh/godaztec.html  -  Mayan calendar (interactive)

http://www.michielb.nl/maya/calendar.html  -  Mayan calendar with conversions

http://www.michielb.nl/maya/writing.html  -  Mayan writing system – brief but thorough

Religion:

http://www.mindspring.com/~coatl/pages/append.htm  -  Gods and goddesses of the Mayans

http://www.crystalinks.com/mayangods.html  -  Mayan gods and goddesses

Agriculture and Food:

http://www.tikalpark.com/tikalecono.htm   -  Ancient Maya of Tikal

http://www.tikalpark.com/tikalecono.htm  -  Mayan food – Animals

http://www.tikalpark.com/tikalecono.htm  -  Mayan water resources

http://www.jaguar-sun.com/farming.html  -  Mayan agriculture

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/about_chocolate/history_chocolate/aztecs.htm
History of chocolate

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/history.html  -  Chocolate

Aztec Websites

General:

http://www.crystalinks.com/aztecs.html  -  Aztec Civilization

Agriculture:

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/nettsch/time/alife.html  -  Aztec daily life and farming

http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/everyday2.htm  -  Everyday life of the Aztecs

http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/about_chocolate/history_chocolate/aztecs.htm
History of chocolate

http://www.fieldmuseum.org/chocolate/history.html  -  Chocolate

Art and Architecture:

http://library.thinkquest.org/10098/aztec.htm  -  Aztec architecture

http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/history/html/conquista/tenochtitlan.html
Brief history of Tenochtitlan

http://www.ancientmexico.com/content/map/tenochtitlan.html
Map with brief information on Tenochtitlan

http://azteca.net/aztec/nahuatl/cosmetic.html  -  Aztec cosmetics

Math and Technology:

 http://www.azteccalendar.com/calendar-calculator.html
Aztec calendar converter (Julian to Aztec with symbols)

http://www.azteccalendar.com/introduction-to-the-aztec-calendar.html
Introduction to the Aztec calendar (very good)

http://azteca.net/aztec/nahuatl/warfare.html  -  Aztec warfare

http://azteca.net/aztec/nahuatl/warfare.html  -  Aztec writing

http://pages.prodigy.com/GBonline/fancwrit.htm#awaztec  -  Aztec writing

Religion:

http://www.scns.com/earthen/other/seanachaidh/godaztec.html  -  Gods and goddesses of the Aztecs

http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/aztecgod.htm  -  Aztec gods

Incan Websites

 General:

 http://www.crystalinks.com/inca.html  - Incan Civilization

http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/inca/eg_inca_menu1.html
Civilization of the Incas  (The best so far)

Art and Architecture:

       http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/inca/eg_inca_7.html  -  Incan clothing

Math and Technology:

http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Inca_mathematics.html  -  Incan Math

Religion:

http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_pantheon.htm 
Incan gods and goddesses

Agriculture:

 http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/geography/terracefarming.htm  -  Terrace farming

Conquistadors

 http://www.pbs.org/opb/conquistadors/home.htm  -  The Conquistadors (PBS)  

http://www.thepirateking.com/bios/cortez_hernando.htm  -  Cortes biography

http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h437.html  -  Cortez biography (good for 5^th grade)

 http://www.thepirateking.com/bios/pizarro_francisco.htm  - Pizzaro biography

Miscellaneous websites

 http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/index.html  -  Why do civilizations fail?  

http://www.cumbavac.org/Aztecs_Incas_Maya.htm
Major list of websites and webquests, and lesson plans

PowerPoint Presentation Layout

Each group should arrange their PPP in this order:

Title page - This should include your civilization and your names.

*
Geographical features of where your civilization lived.  
Include a map and describe what the land looked like. 

*
How the society was formed

*
Government

*
Religion

*
Arts and architecture

*
Agriculture

*
Science and math

*
Conquistadors who conquered your civilization

EVALUATION

 You will be evaluated on your:

Research 
How much information did you find?  
Did you answer your questions?  
Did you provide enough information?

  Notes 
Did you use the Notes form?  
Did you write down enough information?  
Did you record where you found your information?

PPP
 Did it effectively and thoroughly explain your civilization?  
Did the pictures help explain the text?  
Was it neat?

Presentation 
Did everyone contribute?  
Were you able to answer any questions that King Charles asked?

Use the following rubric to make sure that your project is the best that it can be.  
Mrs. Fehlner will use it to evaluate your project.

CONCLUSION

            Students will learn about the three primary ancient civilizations in Central and South America .  They will develop their research skills in using books and the Internet to find information, and they will develop their technology skills in preparing a PowerPoint Presentation.