Download Ranking the Achievements of the Aztec, Inca and Maya

Name:____________________ Ranking the Achievements of the Aztec, Inca and Maya Directions: As you study the various achievements of the Aztec, Inca and Maya, consider the criteria we use to determine whether an achievement is “remarkable.” Take notes in the various criteria boxes about each of the achievements as it relates to that specific piece of criteria Achievement Scale Genius Effort Significance (size of project or number of people impacted) (intelligence needed to create or put into place) (amount of work, manpower/government control needed) (number of people impacted over time, lasting legacy) Example Station: Aztec Agriculture Station A: Mayan Math Station B: Mayan Calendar Station C: Aztec Military Conquest Station D: Aztec Architecture Station E: Inca Architecture After you have read the documents at each of the stations, develop a ranking for the achievements. Achievement Reason for Ranking 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Example: Aztec Agriculture Station A: Mayan Math Source​
: Charles C. Mann, “1491:New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.” Random Hosue, 2006. “...the mathematician Tobias Dantzig called the discovery of zero “one of the greatest single accomplishments of the human race, “ a “turning point” in mathematics, science and technology….The first recorded zero in the Americas occurred in a Maya carving from 357 CE” Station B: Mayan Calendar Station C: Aztec Military Conquest Source​
: Charles C. Mann, “1491:New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.” Random Hosue, 2006. “To gain strength, the sun needed ​
chalchihuatl­​
the mysterious fluid of life­energy. There was but one method of obtaining this life­energy: ritual human sacrifice. Occasionally the victims were slaves and criminals, but mainly they were prisoners of war. In this way the sacred mission of the Aztecs became translated into a secular mission: to obtain prisoners to sacrifice for the sun, the Aztecs had to take over the world.” Station D: Aztec Architecture Source​
: Charles C. Mann, “1491:New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.” Random Hosue, 2006. Station E: Inca Architecture Source​
: Charles C. Mann, “1491:New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus.” Random Hosue, 2006. Source​
: Cynthia Graber, “Farming Like the Incas.” Smithsonian Magazine, September 2011. The terraces leveled the planting area, but they also had several unexpected advantages. The stone retaining walls heat up during the day and slowly release that heat to the soil as temperatures plunge at night, keeping sensitive plant roots warm during the sometimes frosty nights and expanding the growing season. And the terraces are extremely efficient at conserving scarce water from rain or irrigation canals, says Kendall. “We’ve excavated terraces, for example, six months after they’ve been irrigated, and they’re still damp inside. So if you have drought, they’re the best possible mechanism.” If the soil weren’t mixed with gravel, points out Kendall, “when it rained the water would log inside, and the soil would expand and it would push out the wall.” Kendall says that the Incan terraces are even today probably the most sophisticated in the world, as they build on knowledge developed over about 11,000 years of farming in the region.