 Explain how people arrived in the Americas.
 Describe the cultural contributions of the Native
Americans.
 Classify the explorers and their areas of
exploration.
 Evaluate the impact of European exploration on
Native American culture.
 Vocabulary Words
 Mound Builders
 Aztec
 Quipus
 Archaeology
 Adobe
 How did the first people get to North America?
 What discovery lead nomads to take up farming?
 Where was the capital of the Aztec Empire?
 How was Aztec and Maya society organized?
 Who were the Mound Builders and Anasazi? Where did
they live and what type of buildings did they construct?
 What happened to changed the way of life for Native
Americans in the 1500’s?
 How and why did the early peoples
come to the Americas?
 Was religion important in the lives of
early Americans? Give specific
examples.
 Cause and Effect Diagram
 Journey from Asia
 What caused sea levels to drop and what happened
when they did?
 Along what major mountain ranges did the migration
routes flow? (Map on page 18)
 How was it possible for prehistoric people to cross the
Bering Strait?
 How did the early American nomads hunt for food?
 What did farming mean for nomadic people?
 What might have happened in the Americas if the Ice
Age had never occurred?
 Categorizing Information
 What are civilizations? The largest and most advanced early
civilizations in the Americas were the Olmec, Maya, Aztec and Inca.
 The Olmec civilization was the earliest and flourished along the Gulf
Coast of what is today Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras.
 The Maya built their civilization in the forest areas of Mexico,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Belize.
 The Mayan empire was based upon a theocracy. What is a theocracy?
 The Mayans build great cities whose central feature were huge
pyramids. We do not know for sure what led to the decline of the
Mayan empire.
 The Aztec Empire appeared after the decline of the
Mayans. It was centered in what is today Mexico City.
 The Aztec’s were know as great warriors.
 Why was the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan a great city?
 One of the largest empires was that of the Inca’s in present
day Colombia, Chile, Peru, and northern Argentina.
 The Inca built special cities for religious ceremonies. One
of these was Machu Picchu.
 How did the Inca farm steep slopes?
 What other kind of dwellings were built by the Anasazi?
 In what area did the Anasazi live?
 Look at the map on page 30.
 To which culture did the Apache and Hopi belong?
 Based on the description of the dwelling, which cultures were
nomads?
 How did the use of the horse change the lifestyle of Native
Americans on the Great Plains?
 What where the people who settle in the
northernmost part of North American called?
 What types of animals were their culture built upon?
 Name some of the Native American tribes that
inhabited the west coast of North American. Which
groups lived in the Great Basin area between the Sierra
Nevada and the Rocky Mountains.?
 The people of the Southwest built homes of what type
of mud brick material?
 The people of the east agreed to stop warring with
each other. They created what is known as the
____________________.
 What was unique about the role of women in the
Iroquois tribes?
 The first Americans spread throughout North, Central,
and South America.
 It is believed that the migrated from Asia across a land
bridge during the last Ice Age.
 Societies in South and Central America and in Mexico
create powerful empires.
 The people of North America did not develop empires
as large as those of the Inca, Maya, and Aztec.
 Among the most advanced of the early cultures are the Hohokam and
Anasazi of the Southwest and the Mound Builders of the Ohio River
valley.
 People who settle in a particular region develop a common culture.
 In the Southwest, Native American peoples adapt to their hash
environment by improving techniques of irrigation to farm the land.
 Most of the people of the Great Plains were nomadic. They lived in
tepees, and used horses, spears, and bows and arrows to hunt deer,
antelope, and buffalo.
 Native Americans of the Northeast from the Iroquois League to solve
disputes.