SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT OUTLINE
Main Ideas
1. Mayan culture from a statistical perspective
2. Mayan government and political organization
3. Mayan cities and landscapesCulture
Day 1
I. Introduction
Introduce the overall unit on the Mayan culture to the class. Go over some of the topics and activities beginning with the topic of Culture in relation to the Mayas.
II. Demographics
Introduce to them the meaning of demographics. Discuss how demographics is used to study people, cultures, and societies. Explore how demographics can be used to compare different cultures and groups of people to one another. Look at how using demographics can be misleading when talking about certain populations of people. Have students look at demographics of their own state to get them familiar with what they will be looking at the next day. Give students a worksheet to fill out using the demographics given to them.
1. Teacher Resources: Copies of demographics of Indiana, Worksheet, Webster’s Dictionary, knowledge of demographics
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paperDay 2
I. Mayan People and Statistics
Review what demographics mean as well as look at the handout given to them the previous day on demographics in the state of Indiana. They will then be given a handout with the demographics of the Mayan people on it. With these two handouts they will get into their groups and answer a series of questions that will make them compare and contrast the demographics of the two cultures. Once they have answered these questions we will come back together as a group and discuss their comparisons. We will close this day with a preview into what they will be doing tomorrow.
1. Teacher Resources: Copies of demographics of Mayan people, worksheet,
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paperDay 3
I. Mayan Demographics
Review what was covered the previous day then lead into today’s project. The students will use their Mayan demographics given to them the previous day and they will get into their same groups to do one of three things. One group will make a poster that describes the demographics of the Mayan culture. The other group will write a poem that summarizes or describes the Mayan culture. The last group will do a skit incorporating the demographics of the Mayan culture. Each group will have half the class period to work on their projects and the rest of the period to present them to the class. As they work on their projects Mayan music will be playing in the background. We will wrap up this day by reviewing what we learned about the demographics of Mayan culture.
1. Teacher Resources: CD of Mayan music, which can be ordered at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00002061T/qid=1018483519/sr=-/ref=__/103-4564585-0310256
2. Student Resources: Poster board, markers, examples of how to write a poemSOCIETY
Day 4
I. Political Organization
Students will be introduced to the Mayan way of government, which is very different from their own. I will give a Power Point presentation on the class structure of the Mayan people along with the government structure itself to give them an introduction to this topic. Then the students will be given a handout to read which describes how people became kings and rulers. This handout will also include how the government was structured and what types of laws were in place that the Mayan people had to follow. A discussion will follow and this will lead into the activity. Each of the students will have a partner and will role-play scenarios that I give to them pertaining to Mayan government. We will discuss what they talked about while they role-played and end the day with a review of the material covered for that day.
1. Teacher resources: Power Point, pictures/images, and information about Mayan government found at
http://www.students.dsu.edu/tiptonc/Mayan_govt/mayan_books.htm, handout about Mayan government, scenarios
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paperDay 5
I. Lost Civilization of The Mayas
Students will watch a documentary about Mayan society and government and the rise and demise of the Ancient Mayan Civilization. They will take notes on this documentary and after it is over we will discuss some of its main points. Discuss the field trip scheduled for Monday and what is expected of them.
1. Teacher Resources: Documentary: The Maya Pompeii
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paperDay 6
I. Field trip
During our discussion time I will give the students worksheets that they will fill out while they are at the museum looking at the exhibits. They will turn this worksheet in to me at the end of the field trip.
1. Teacher Resources: Copies of worksheets, information about museum
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paperCITIES
Day 7
I. Geography
Explore the exact location of the Mayas throughout Central America. This will begin with where they are located in relation to the World. We will look at them in relation to the continent they are located on and then narrow their location down to the country and then down to their major cities. We will talk about the structure of those cities as well as take a look at the natural features of the land that the Mayas lived and worked close to everyday. All of this material will be presented to them in the form of a Power Point presentation and the students will take notes. Then I will give them blank maps of Central America and on these they will write where the major cities of the Mayas were located. We will review what we discussed today and then talk about what they will be doing the next two days to prepare for the festival.
1. Teacher Resources: websites for pictures and maps for Power Point, copies of blank maps, knowledge of geography of land and cities of Mayas
2. Student Resources: Pen/pencil, paper, colored pencils for mapDay 8/9
I. Projects
The students will be put into groups and given a city to work with. Each group will be given a different city to research and then they will create a detailed map of that city on a piece of paper that is 46X24. These maps will include where the ruins are located as well as the natural landforms of the area. In order to make these maps the students will use their knowledge of gridlines, scales, map keys, and other tools needed to create a map. These maps will be displayed on the walls at our festival for everyone to see.
1. Teacher Resources: information about cities, computer lab for research
2. Student Resources: Paper, markers, colored pencils, computer labs & websites to research citiesDay 10
I. Festival
This is the culminating activity for the Racers interdisciplinary unit on The Maya. Each discipline will gather in the school gym for a Mayan festival. Through this gathering eah discipline will answer guiding questions from our unit by displaying products from individual units. This enables the students to see an "end-result" and also allows for them to make the connections between their classes, and see how everything "fits together".
Guiding Statements:
1. Explore why the Mayans are not as prominent today as they were in the past.
2. Discover what were the important contributions of the Mayans to society.
3. Develop a better understanding of the Mayan culture and their civilization.
Spanish - Displays a better understanding of Mayan culture and civilization through food products and music.
Language Arts - Shows important contributions of Mayans to society by engaging other students in creating their own name glyphs. In addition, Language Arts students will display their "Ancient Mayan Times" newspapers. The articles in the papers reflect historical evidence and explanations as to why Mayans are not as prominant today as they were in the past.Social Studies - The Social Studies classes will use all of their knowledge about the Mayan people and make pamphlets describing their culture and government to hand out at the festival. They will also be explaining their maps that they made to the other students at the festival.
Technology - The technology class will display their wares from the class projects. Products will include pottery, costumes and Mayan city replica's.