ANCIENT CIVILAZATIONS

Your teacher has assigned your group to research the three ancient civilizations of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs. You decide to use the time machine your brother Eugene made for the science fair instead of the library like everyone else. Before you climb in, Eugene gives each of you a Techpack- a special mini computer that gets internet everywhere and even takes pictures! He wants to make sure you can email him if there are any problems. All three of you climb into the little machine and type in each of your destinations. Even though they are all in South America, they are in different time periods; the machine will drop you off and then pick you up when you email it. Eugene pushes the button and the next thing you know, you’re in the middle of the jungle surrounded by people of an ancient civilization, without your friends or a time machine!

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Created by Katrina Ryder for a 4th-6th grade group activity.

Eugene had made a mistake when calibrating the time machine. After it sent you to all different parts of South America, the time machine had a break down and forgot where you are! To get back home, Eugene has to come pick each of you up, now that he’s fixed the problems. To help him find you, you must create an email with all the information he needs. It should include:

A) The time period and location of your culture.

B) A map and pictures of the landmarks of your civilization.

C) The research you’ve gathered for the project (in a PowerPoint); you should include their religion, what they eat, a picture of their artwork and 3 interesting facts about their lifestyle.

While you are in these cultures and researching them, look carefully at the traditions and customs they have. Look to see how their culture changes how they act and think.

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Which culture are you in?

Aztec Inca Maya

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AZTECYou’ve landed amongst the Aztecs! Now you must

gather photos and research.A. Time period and location

Timeline and Map: http://www.ballgame.org/sub_section.asp?section=1&sub_section=1

B. Map and landmarkDo research and interview the natives to find out what landmarks are important to them. Use your Techpack to take pictures of two of them . (Google Image Search)Map

C. Research

Religion: http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/aztec.html

Culture: http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/mesoamerica/aztec.html

http://www.aztec-history.com/index.html (use the side bar to learn about different parts of their culture.)

Artwork: Techpack (Google Image Search)

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INCAYou’ve landed amongst the Incas! Now you must

gather photos and research.A. Time period and location

Timeline: http://incas.mrdonn.org/timeline.html

B. Map and landmarkDo research and interview the natives to find out what landmarks are important to them. Use your Techpack to take pictures of two of them . (Google Image Search)Map

C. Research

Religion: http://philtar.ucsm.ac.uk/encyclopedia/latam/inca.html

Culture: http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_inca_culture.htm

http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/latinamerica/south/cultures/inca.html

Artwork: TechPack (Google Image Search)

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MAYANYou’ve landed amongst the Mayans! Now you

must gather photos and research.A. Time period and location

Timeline and map: http://www.ballgame.org/sub_section.asp?section=1&sub_section=1

B. Map and landmarkDo research and interview the natives to find

out what landmarks are important to them. Use your Techpack to take pictures of two of them .

(Google Image Search)Map

C. Research

Religion: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112511/religion.htm

Culture: http://www.jaguar-sun.com/maya.html

Artwork: TechPack (Google Image Search)

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RUBRIC Developing1-2 points

Competent3-4 points

Exemplary5-6 points

Score

PowerPoint Presentation

       

Information I have gathered less than the 6 types of

information from the websites and resources.

I have gathered a little bit of research from each

of the 6 types of information from the

websites and resources.

I have gathered and summarized information

from the websites and resources provided and

have added to it from other resources.

 

Presentation My PowerPoint had 3 slides or less and the layout was confusing

and hard to read.

My PowerPoint had 6 slides with some

interesting information and visual aids (pictures

or backgrounds)

My PowerPoint had 6 slides or more with

interesting information on each slide, excellent visual aids and a good

design or layout.

 

Paragraph        

Content My paragraph showed that I knew a little about my ancient culture and I thought a little bit about how culture affects how

people act.

My paragraph showed that I knew most things

about my ancient culture and I spent time thinking

about how culture affects how people act.

My paragraph showed that I knew many things

about my ancient culture and I thought very hard about how

culture affects how people act.

 

Technical My paragraph was 3 sentences or less and

had many grammar and spelling mistakes.

My paragraph was 5 sentences and had a few

grammar or spelling mistakes.

My paragraph was 5 sentences or more and

had no grammar or spelling mistakes.

 

Now that you’ve studied this culture and have all your research, write a paragraph about how you felt when staying with these people. Did some of their traditions make you uncomfortable? Did their religion affect how they act in their everyday lives? What traditions do you have that may have made one of your ancient friends uncomfortable?

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The intent of this webquest is to guide the student towards a greater comfort with computers, a greater understanding of one of the ancient civilizations of South America, and a new view on the affect of culture on the individual.

Iowa Core Standards for 6-8 History

Credits

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Iowa Core Standards for 6-8 History

Understand the role of the culture and cultural diffusion on the development and maintenance of societies.

• Culture plays a crucial role in the development of societies across time. Just as culture influences the interactions of various social groups, it also affects individual and institutional economic and political decisions. Culture provides the means for expressing individual or collective beliefs, which can include religious practices, literature, music, and art. Therefore any assessment or evaluation of historical change must consider the influence of culture.

• In addition, examination of cultural diffusion can demonstrate the ways in which societies interact through adopting, adapting, modifying, or resisting cultural aspects of another society. This process of negotiating the “middle ground” between two or more societies has greatly influenced historical development. Including but not limited to:

• Examine and evaluate the influence of culture on the interactions of various groups.

• Assess the effect of culture on a society, group, or individual’s decisions and actions.

• Compare and contrast the culture of majority groups with the culture of minority groups.

• Analyze the methods by which culture is spread from one society to another.

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Credits

http://corecurriculum.iowa.gov/Discipline.aspx?C=Social

http://questgarden.com/86/12/7/091101132649/process.htm

http://questgarden.com/search/webquest_results.php?language=en&descwords=mayan&searchfield=descrip&searchcriteria=anyword&search=Search

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