The Aztecs — Mighty Warriors of Mexico
All about us we saw cities and villages built in the water, their
great towers and buildings of masonry rising out of it…When I beheld the scenes
around me I thought within myself, this was the garden of the world. —Bernal
Diaz del Castillo, Spanish conquistador IntroductionWhen
the Spanish conquistador Hernan de Cortes and his army arrived in Tenochtitlan
(ten-ohch-teet-LAHN), capital of the mighty Aztec empire, they were amazed by
what they saw. The island city was built in the middle of Lake Texcoco, connected
to the surrounding land by three great causeways. Stone aqueducts delivered fresh
water to the city residents. A network of canals made up the city streets, and
farmers grew vegetables on ingeniously constructed “floating gardens” (chinampas).
There were palaces, parks, ball courts, a zoo, a bustling market, and an awe-inspiring
temple complex. Tenochtitlan was the hub of a rich civilization that dominated
the region of modern-day Mexico at the time the Spanish forces arrived. In this
lesson, students will learn about the history and culture of the Aztecs and discover
why their civilization came to an abrupt end. Guiding Questions:Who
were the Aztecs? Where and when did they live? What was their culture like? What
were their major religious beliefs? What was their capital city like? What happened
to them? Learning ObjectivesAfter
completing this lesson, students will be able to: - Identify the Aztecs
as the builders of a great city and rich civilization in what is now Mexico
- Locate
the Aztec Empire and its capital on a map
- Be able to place the Aztecs
in the chronology of American history
- Describe several aspects of Aztec
culture
- Tell the legend of the founding of the capital city of Tenochtitlan
and describe the way the city looked at its peak
- Understand the causes
of the Aztec civilization's downfall
Preparing
to Teach this LessonRead the entire lesson to get
a sense of the content. Review the websites embedded in the activities. Bookmark
them for easy reference. Access the basic map
of Mexico found at the Xpeditions
mapsite Click off state borders. Download and print the map. Make copies for
each of your students for Activity One. Have colored pencils or markers on hand
for the map work. Establish five groups of students for Activity Two. Download
and print out the lists of questions for each group provided in pdf format. Download
the list of websites for this activity provided in pdf format and make copies
for the groups. You can obtain additional background
information about the Aztecs at Aztec
Empire available through EDSITEment reviewed resource Internet
Public Library and The
Mexica/Aztecs, also available through and Internet
Public Library. It would be useful to have on hand children's books about
the Aztecs from your school library as supplementary materials. Ideally,
two or three students should work together at one computer in these activities.
If there are not enough computers in your classroom for this, you might wish to
have some of the students work on other projects while one group completes the
activities. Suggested Activities
1. Meet the Aztecs 2.
Aspects of Aztec Culture 3.
Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, Top Gods of the Aztecs 4.
Tenochtitlan, Glorious Capital City 5.
What Happened to the Aztecs? Activity
One — Meet the Aztecs
Explain to the students that they will be learning about
a Meso-American people, the Aztecs, who established a rich civilization over
five hundred years ago in what is now Mexico. Begin by helping them discover
where the Aztecs lived on a world map. Go to National
Geographic's Xpeditions map site. On the world map, click on North America,
then click on Mexico.
Have the students locate Mexico City, the country's capital, which was built
on the site of the old Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. Then customize the map:
click basic and turn state borders off for a clearer view of the geographical
shape of Mexico.
Now go to HyperHistory
Online available through the EDSITEment reviewed resource Conquistadors.
Click on Maps, then Regional Maps, then Medieval Maps, and finally, Maya and
Aztec. Point out that the Aztec empire extended entirely across central Mexico,
from ocean to ocean. Now go to Aztec
Empire 1519 available through the EDSITEment reviewed resource LANIC
for another view of the empire.
Hand out the
copies of the blank map of Mexico you made while preparing this lesson. Using
colored pencils or markers, the students should mark the site of Tenochtitlan
and then designate the general area of the Aztec Empire. Activity
Two — Aspects of Aztec Culture Tell the
students that they will now learn about how the Aztecs lived. Explain that they
will work in five groups, each group assigned to finding information about a specific
topic. The topics are the following: the local environment, the Aztec social structure,
food production and preparation; education and writing; and warfare. Assign the
students to the groups and then hand out the appropriate sets of questions and
websites provided in pdf format to each group: - Local
Environment: Describe the geography of the Aztec territory - were there mountains?
Deserts? Grasslands? Lakes? Rivers? What was the climate like? Does this seem
like a good place for farming? Why or why not?
- Social
Structure: What were the calpulli? What were the major classes of Aztec society?
How did clothing reflect a person's class? Which was the largest class? Which
was the smallest? Describe the life-style of the ruler.
- Food
Production and Preparation: What were the major crops? How were fields prepared
for growing the crops? Who worked in the fields? What types of meat were eaten?
How was corn usually prepared for a meal?
- Education
and Writing: What were the two kinds of schools? What was studied in each?
Did girls go to school? Describe the Aztec system of writing. What is a codex?
- Warfare:
How did Aztec boys train for warfare? What were main weapons used in battle? Who
were the jaguars and eagles? Did the Aztec soldiers kill their enemies or take
prisoners? Why would they even consider taking prisoners?
Distribute
the lists of useful websites
provided in pdf format to each group. Instruct your students
to read each web page carefully and look closely at graphics before answering
their questions. After gathering all the data required and filling out the question
forms, each group should prepare a presentation of their findings. When everyone
is ready, have the students share what they have learned so far about the Aztecs.
Activity Three — Huitzilopochtli
and Tlaloc, Top Gods of the Aztecs Like
most early peoples, the Aztecs worshipped many nature gods. However, their main
deities were Huitzilopochtli (weetz-ill-oh-PACHT-lee), the war god, and Tlaloc
(til-AH-loc), the rain god. Tell the students that they will be learning about
these two gods. Divide the class in half. One group will find information about
Huitzilopochtli, the other will research Tlaloc. The
students should consult the websites listed in Activity One. In addition to these,
the group working on Huitzilopochtli can find a picture of the god at Huitzilopochtli
available through EDSITEment reviewed resource Internet
Public Library. They can also learn about human sacrifices made to the god
of war by revisiting Conquistadors-Mexico,
going to page
three of Aztec
Life and Times, and clicking on "gods
must be pleased." The students should
take notes and download whatever graphics seem useful. Copies of these can be
made for other class members. Once the data have been gathered, have the students
share what they have learned the two gods. Then draw a Venn
Diagram on the board. Ask the students to name characteristics the two gods
had in common and then to come up with those that were unique to each one. Write
this information on the Venn Diagram. Then ask the students what conclusions can
be drawn about the religious ideas and rituals of the Aztecs. Activity
Four — Tenochtitlan, Glorious Capital City This
activity should be done together as a large group. Study the legend of the founding
of Tenochtitlan by accessing Conquistadors
— Mexico available through Conquistadors.
Go to page
2 of Aztec
Life and Times. Have a student read aloud the first paragraph, then everyone
should click on "an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake." Ask your students
what they think the bird, cactus, and snake symbolize. (The Aztecs associated
birds and feathers with the heavenly spirits, plants with this world, and snakes
with the frightening underworld.) Inform the students that this image currently
appears on the Mexican flag. Now go to Tenochtitlan
available through Conquistadors to access a map and brief description of the capital
city. Read more about the Aztec capital at The
Great City of Tenochtitlan available through Casa
de Joanna. Now return to Aztec
Life and Times available through Conquistadors,
access page
4 and click onto "land
farmed communally" to learn more about the chinampas. Discuss this
ingenious means of land reclamation. Ask the students what possible drawbacks
might arise in this system. The altars of the two
gods, Huizilopochtli and Tlaloc, were the focal point of the capital city. To
learn more about the pyramids upon which their shrines and altars were built,
go to Tenochtitlan: Templo Mayor
at the EDSITEment reviewed resource ArchNet.
Click on each image. Encourage the students to comment upon each image and to
explain the role of the pyramid/temples in the lives of the Aztecs. You might
ask your students if they can think of ways in which the Aztec pyramids differ
from those of the ancient Egyptians. (The Egyptian pyramids were tombs, not temples,
and, unlike the Aztec structures, they were not flattened on top. And no one would
have thought of climbing them! Both types, however, were immense and were built
of stone.) Activity
Five — What Happened to the Aztecs? Review
the major topics you have covered with the class in Activities Two, Three, and
Four. Then as a group make a list of ten major achievements of the Aztecs. Write
these on the board as the students offer suggestions. Ask the students to rank
these achievements in order of importance. Encourage debate about why one might
be considered more significant than another. Now
explain that, despite the impressive accomplishments of the Aztecs, the city of
Tenochtitlan—and, in fact, the entire Aztec civilization—was destroyed by about
200 Spanish soldiers. Brainstorm with the students about possible explanations
for this. Mention that the Aztecs were at a disadvantage when the Spanish arrived
on Mexican shores because of their mistaken belief that Conquistador Hernan de
Cortes was the much-awaited Aztec god Quetzalcoatl (ket-zahl-co-AHT-ul). Read
with your students about the prediction that this god would come from the sea
at Omens
of Doom available through the EDSITEment reviewed resource Conquistadors.
The Aztec ruler, Montezuma, sent the newly arrived Cortes gifts as one would to
a returning god. Ask your students how Cortes might have responded to these gifts.
(Here's a hint: the Spanish were very greedy!) Despite
their high hopes for a better future, the Aztecs were conquered by Spanish soldiers
bent on obtaining gold and other riches as well as personal glory. The rich civilization
was soon in shambles. Today, the ruins of Tenochtitlan lie beneath modern Mexico
City. For a view of the ruins of the city, access Mexico
City: View of Tenochtitlan Sacred Precinct available through EDSITEment reviewed
resource LANIC . Click larger image. There
is another excellent image of the ruins at The
Mexica/Aztecs, also available through Internet
Public Library. Over a million people in Mexico still speak Nahuatl, the native
language of the Aztecs, and there has been great interest in recent years to learn
more about this rich civilization of the past. Extending
the LessonThe Spanish conquistador Cortes was certainly
nothing like the benevolent god the Aztecs had been waiting for. Once the Spanish
troops arrived in Tenochtitlan, fighting soon broke out. The Spanish had the advantage
of guns (the Aztecs fought with arrows and spears). Eventually, most of those
natives who were not killed or captured in the fighting succumbed to the European
diseases for which their bodies had no immunity. Learn more about the dramatic
clash between native armies and Spanish might by further exploring EDSITEment-reviewed
website, Conquistadors.
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