Chapter 6: Mexico "Mexico's History"

Introduction

In this chapter students read about the land and people of Mexico. Two important pre-Columbian civilizations developed in Mexico: the Aztec and the Maya. They both demonstrated advances in architecture, the arts, and science.

Lesson Description

Students will visit a site about ancient Mexico. They will explore maps of the cities of ancient Mexican civilizations, and will explore a historical document written from Hernán Cortés to the king of Spain. After answering several questions, students will create an illustration that Cortés might have included in his letter to the king to depict a scene from Aztec life.

National Geography Standards:
Standard 4: The geographically informed person knows and understands the physical and human characteristics of places.
Standard 6: The geographically informed person knows and understands how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.
Standard 9: The geographically informed person knows and understands the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
Standard 12: The geographically informed person knows and understands the processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement.

Instructional Objectives

1. The student will be able to analyze information from a map.
2. The student will be able to interpret a historical primary source document.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. Lake Texcoco
2. It had many canals runing through the chinampas of the city, much like the canals found in Venice, Italy.
3. Cortés said that Moctezuma was about forty years old, of good height and well proportioned, slender, and of the natural color and shade of an Indian. He wore his hair just long enough to cover his ears, his black beard was well shaped and thin. His face was somewhat long, but cheerful, and he had good eyes. He was very neat and clean and bathed daily in the afternoon.
4. For each meal, over thirty different dishes were prepared. Moctezuma sat on a low stool and a wooden screen was placed before him so that nobody could watch him eat. He was served by four women and also attended by four great chieftains, and members of his guard brought him all varieties of fruits to eat, as well as a drink made from cacao.
5. Students' pictures may vary.

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