RReich-Storer

Subject Link

Objectives

Activities

Vocabulary

Outcomes

Resources

NC Links

to use BC and ADappropriately

howthe Aztec civilisation relates to other historical periods and tothe chronology of world history

Discusstimeline. Ask pupils whether they can relate

thisto any other periods they have studied give prompts if needed before or after Victorians? Ancient Greeks? Ancient Egyptians?Tudors? (Try to get pupils to

suggestapproximate dates without reference to their books). (Chronologyelement). Make the point that the Aztec empire actually beganaround 1300. Give out books

andask pupils to leave one page blank for title page.

Pupilscopy timeline 1300 2007. One line equals 50 years.

Inatlas, find Central America on world map. Look at continent map andidentify Mexico. Give out maps and identify Mexico on these. Pupilsstick maps in books.

ancient,BC, AD, century

locateMexico on a map

  use BC and AD correctly

  sequence the historical periodsthey know from the Aztec civilisation to present day

mapsof the world, Aztec civilisation,

Tenochtitlan;

information on the Aztec civilisation

toobserve objects in detail

tomake inferences

torecord these inferences

tomake observational

drawingsof artefacts

tointroduce new

vocabulary.

Showthe children pictures or replicas of a number of Aztec objects.Provide questions to encourage the children to observe the objectscarefully and to guide group discussions about them. Ask groups toreport back to the class. Discuss the questions, 'What do theobjects tell us about Aztec life?' and What do objects not tellus?'

Linkwith aspects of literacy. The children write brief sentences torecord their conclusions, perhaps in the form of descriptivewriting.

archaeologist,

museum,evidence

observeand discuss objects in detail

make inferences and

deductionsfrom objects

record these inferences

learn new vocabulary.

tomake deductions about

lifein the past from pictures

andplans of Tenochtitln

about how the city came to

bebuilt

howmuch life in the capital

dependedon tribute.

Givethe children pictures and ground plans of Tenochtitln, the Azteccapital city. Tell them the story of the Aztec creation myth. Thestory will provide more information about possible reasons why theAztecs

decidedto settle where they did, and about the disadvantages of the area.Discuss with the class how the island in take Texcoco, althoughsnake-infested, would have provided a refuge for the Aztecs whenthey were a nomadic people, and how agriculture in the floatinggardens' provided many of their foodstuffs. Discuss also how lifebecame more

difficultas the population expanded, and how the Aztecs came to depend ontribute from their empire for food and raw materials.

Askthem to complete a grid with two headings: 'Reasons why theAztecs

mighthave chosen to live here' and 'Reasons why the Aztecs might nothave preferred to live here.'

pictograms,

ideogramsglyphs, temples,

causeway

extractinformation about

Tenochtitlnfrom pictures

andplans

extract information from a story

provide answers that show the relationship between the location andtopography of Tenochtitln and the way of life of theAztecs.

Thatpupils will find out about Aztec houses for poor people.

Thatthey will draw and label a diagram of a house.

Lookat diagrams of an Aztec house. Ask pupils how these are differentfrom their own houses

(comparingbetween cultures) and why this is. List all features onboard:

Wallsof mud and stone.

Thatchedroof.

Broomfor sweeping.

Diggingstick.

Mudfloor.

Openfire.

Storagebins for food.

Handmadepots.

Waterjar.

Strawmat.

Hearthgod.

Drawdiagram, then write an explanation of many of the features

Folensp40-41 and Ginn p26

tomake deductions about

lifein the past from pictures

anddrawings of Aztec men,

womenand children

howthe Aztecs were skilled

inmany crafts

torecord their observations

insentences.

Givethe children pictures of men, women and children, and also ofpriests, warriors and the emperor. Consider how status was shown inthe type of dress worn. Ask the children to look carefully at theway items of dress were made and the materials used to makethem.

Linkwith literacy. During a shared writing time, write sentences aboutthe

observationsthe children have been able to make.

observeclosely the way

Aztecsfrom different levels of society dressed

begin to understand how

Azteccostumes were made and the materials they were made from

record in sentences their

observations.

To comparethe roles of men and women

Provide thechildren with information on the lives of Aztec men and women.Children compare and contrast.

Toinvestigate the cycle of life for Aztecs.

Discuss howtheir lives were centred around religious ceremonies. Discuss whatrituals they had at birth and death.

British museuminformation pack

That pupilswill understand that the Aztecs used glyphs.

That theywill design their own Aztec style glyphs.

Look atGinn p35. Explain that the Aztecs used these signs instead ofwriting and that these are called glyphs. Ask pupils if they knowof any other cultures which used pictures for writing (linksbetween cultures) and compare these with Egyptianhieroglyphics.

Look atFolens p19. Explain that tribes conquered in battle by the Aztecshad to pay taxes to the emperor, Montezuma. These taxes wererecorded in glyphs.

Ask pupilsto find on the picture a feathered shield, a battledress for asoldier, beads, a bunch of quetzal feathers (remind pupils thatthese were highly prized) a bag of beans, a sack of chilli peppers.How many bags of beans were sent? How many bundles of feathers?What do you think the feathers were used for?

Give outAztec Writing sheet for pupils to look at. Explain that the Aztecssometimes put two or three glyphs together, as on p35 of Ginn book.Show on board Quauhtitlan Quauilt = tree, titlan = teeth, sothey would draw a tree with teeth. In History books, pupils choose3 Aztec glyphs to copy and label. Then they try to draw their ownglyphs for place names listed on board. Give example of Barking they could draw an iron bar and a king.

Places:Dartmouth, Bath, Braintree, Gateshead, Hertford, Rugby,Liverpool.

AztecWriting sheet, Ginn book; Folens book.

To find outabout the Mesoamerican number system. To use the Mesoamericannumber system.

Discusswith the children how we have found out about the Aztecs. Explainthat historians have also used writings to find out about thenumber system they used. Look at the symbols and what theyrepresented.

Record inbooks. Have a go at doing sums using the number system.

about therange of sources

which havesurvived from

the Aztecperiod

that whatwe know about

the past isdependent on

what hassurvived

to listwhat they have

learnedfrom the sources

and say howthe source is

useful

Give thechildren a range of sources, eg photographs ofarchitecture,

examples of Aztecart, codices, artefacts, Spanish texts.

Ask thechildren to list what they can learn from these different sourcesand discuss why these sources have survived. Finally, ask thechildren to evaluate them.

archaeologist,

museum,evidence

ask andanswer questions

about whathas survived

from Aztectimes

begin toevaluate at a

simplelevel a range of

sources interms of how

much theyreveal about the past

list whatthey have learned from the sources.

about Aztecpyramids and

deities

to usesources of

informationin ways which

go beyondsimple

observation

to writelabels and captions

based ontheir own

research.

Givethe children information about Aztec beliefs, religious rites andgods. Link with ICT. Ask the children to select pictures of objectsfrom books and the internet to provide evidence about Aztecbeliefs.

Askthem to draw the objects and label them showing what the objectmight tell us, eg an idol - the Aztecs believed in manydifferent gods.

Linkwith literacy. Ask the children to create a museum by selectingpictures about Aztec beliefs and gods by producing interestingcaptions for the audience to read.

selectpictures about Aztec beliefs

create amuseum display about Aztec beliefs and

gods

writelabels and captions

based ontheir own

research.

History

2 lessons plush/w

That pupilswill use sources of information to answer questions. (Usingsources)

That theywill present their information in a way which is interesting toothers.

Explainthat the Aztecs worshipped many Gods, each representing an aspectof everyday life. Look at picture of statue of Coatlicue on page 28of Ginn, and mask of

Sun God onp20 of Folens book. Explain to pupils that they will have twolessons and one homework to research one of

these AztecGods. They should produce a brief written description of the God,explaining their name, and what they were the God of. They need toproduce an

illustrationwhich then will be a mask (using the mosaic technique used by theAztecs -

Gods:

Chalchiuhtlicue

Quetzalcoatl

Tezcatlipoca

Tlacloc

Xihtecutil

Chicomecoatl

Mictecacihuatl

Sheets onthe gods (in various support photocopiable books Ginn,Folens,

Scholastic), Ginnand Folens textbooks.

Art

History

3 lessons

how tocreate their own versions of Aztec objects,

suchas

masksusing

a varietyof media

Use theirpiece of work on gods to produce a mask from clay. Use Aztec styleto decorate.

make theirown versions of Aztec objects and clothes

begin toappreciate the

skills ofAztec craftsmen

about theAztec defeat at

the handsof the Spanish

conquistadors

thatpoetry was used by the

Aztecs todescribe their

feelings

to writedescriptive words

and phrasesto describe

their ownfeelings as they

listen tothe poems

torecreate the past using

drama/roleplay.

Tell thechildren the story of the Spanish conquest and in particular, aboutthe meeting between Cortes and Moctehozuma.

Read thepoem 'Flowers and songs of sorrow' to the children and ask themwhat it tells us about the feelings of the Aztecs at thetime.

Link withliteracy. The children write down descriptive words and phrases todescribe their own feelings.

Ask thechildren to use drama/role play to recreate some of the scenes ofthe Aztec defeat using costumes and artefacts they producedearlier. They could also include extracts from the poem and musicfor effect.

understandthe key events

in thedefeat of the Aztecs

begin toappreciate the

usefulnessof Aztec poetry

for findingout about the

past

writedescriptive words and

phrases

usedrama/role play to

recreatethe past.

aboutdiffering

interpretationsof the

conquest ofthe Aztecs

thathistorical accounts can

be based ondifferent

views.

becritical of the evidence that we have, eg the Spanish texts as asource of information

about theAztecs.

Give eachhalf of the class a short extract to read and discuss: onetaken

from anAztec account of the conquest and the other an extract froma

Spanishaccount. Links with literacy. Ask the children to note the keypoints in each account and then report back to the class.

Discuss thedifferent views of the conquest and how historians' accounts

can differdepending on the sources they use.

read anddiscuss different

interpretationsof a past

event inAztec times

note keypoints from each

account

inferdifferent points of view

that can bederived from

sources onthe conquest of

theAztecs.

To discusswho are the most significant emperors and why

Visitthe mexico gallery at the british museum.