November 6 maya day 2

I can describe where the

Mayans lived, how they

were advanced as a culture

and what happened to

them.

95 96

97 98

Intellectual advances

Symbol/picture

Power

Practice:

You MUST

have this

done for

tomorrow!!

• Latin America

- Part of Mexico

- Central America

- Guatemala

- Belize

- Honduras

- El Salvador

• At their height from 250 A.D. to 900 A.D.

• Had a 365 day calendar based on the sun’s movement

- 18 months of 20 days each = 360 days

- 5 unlucky days left

• Also had a 260 day calendar used for rituals

• Discuss the following question with a partner near you:

- You will have 3 minutes to do this, then we will discuss it as a class.

• Studied math and astronomy

- concept of zero

• Had a very sophisticated system of math for their time

• The BEST written

language of

ancient Latin

America

- based on

symbols

“hieroglyphs”

- each picture

represented a

word or symbol

• Volunteers to answer

Mayan math questions?!?

- raise your hand silently

• Slash and Burn

- cut down and burned trees

- planted crops in their place

- after a few years let the

forest grow back

- soil regained nutrients

- process repeated

• Ridges on Floodplains

- land rich in nutrients

- ridges kept land from getting too wet

• 900 A.D. – Things begin to change

• Mayan civilization weakened and spread out over time.

- no one is sure why this took place…

What do YOU think happened?