TECHNOLOGY UNIT OUTLINE
Culture
Day 1
I. Introduction
Give an overall Unit summary to my class including some of the activities they will be doing. Some of the key points to be discussed are:
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 technology.
3. Develop a better understanding of the Mayan culture and their civilization.II. Construction Overview
I will give a power point presentation over some of the Mayan structures past and present. The presentation will include information on why and how the structures were built the way they were.
Some of the structures that will be talked about include: Pyramid of Magician;
Castillo;Caracal;Tikal.
Day 2/3
I. Construction Activity
This activity will last two days in which the students will be asked to build a structure that is similar to one the Mayans may have built. The buildings will be constructed as accurately as possible. This lesson will help the children learn about past and present Mayan structures as well as how they lived.
Teacher resources:
http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/haya/ian/maya/tech.html
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/ldumois/maya/ldmayacity.html
http://www.halfmoon.org/average.htmlSOCIETY
Day 4
I. Manufacturing
During this lesson the children will learn about the different tools and products that were made by the Mayans past and present. They will understand how better technology made life easier for the Mayans as the years passed. Such things as ceramics and pottery will be talked about as well as costumes.
View Manufacturing Lesson PlanDay 5
I. Manufacturing Activity
The children will have a choice of either replicating a piece of Mayan pottery of designing their own Mayan costume. This will be interesting for the students because they can tie in what they have learned in their other classes. For example they could decorate their pots with symbols that they learned in their Spanish class.
Day 6
I. Field Trip
My group of students will examine any Mayan technology at the museum. Each student will be required to write a one-page report on his/her experience. They must name at least eight facts that they did not know before, and give one thing that they liked and one thing that they did not like about the exhibit. These reports will be handed in, and we will discuss them the next day in our discussion hour.
Teacher resources:
http://www.mayadiscovery.com/ing/handicrafts/default.htmCITIES
Day 7
I. Transportation
Students will learn all about the different types of transportation used by the Mayans over the years.
Day 8
I. Transportation activity
The students will be asked to choose one type of transportation used by the Mayans and redesign it. They must come up with three reasons why it is better and why the Mayans would have been better off with their design.
Day 9
I. Prepare for the Festival
The students who have chosen to work with me for the final day in preparation for the Festival will be required to help build the miniature Mayan city. Including means of Mayan transportation new and old as well a miniature Mayan city including life like structures.
Day 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.