History
1
2
3
How do we know about the Mayan civilisation?
- Exploring what archaeologists have discovered and what this
can tell us about the Mayan way of life
- Looking at a variety of Mayan artefacts to gather clues about
the Mayans
- Establishing a brief timeline of the Mayan civilisation
How was Mayan society organised?
- Thinking about how our society is run and who is in charge
- Exploring the city states of the Mayans and how they were
organised
- Investigating the roles of different groups of people in Mayan
society, such as kings, nobles, merchants and slaves
4
What did the Mayans believe?
- Finding out about the Mayan gods
- Exploring religious rites and rituals, including bloodletting and
human sacrifice
- Finding out about Mayan beliefs of the afterlife
5
What was everyday life like for the Mayans?
- Using a variety of sources of information to explore what daily
life was like for areas such as homes, food, clothes and
farming
6
What did the Mayans achieve?
- Exploring the writing system of the Mayans, including a
number system
- Exploring the Mayan calendar and knowledge of astrology
7
The Mayans
Topic Overview
When were the Mayan ruins discovered?
- Finding out about the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs in the
16th century and the subsequent discovery of mysterious ruins
in Mesoamerica
- Using photos of Mayan ruins to generate questions
- Considering what the Spanish conquistadors might have felt
when they discovered the ruins and the questions they might
have asked
Why did the Mayan civilisation decline?
- Exploring why records of battles between city states
disappeared from stelae around the year 900
- Considering possible reasons for the decline of the Mayan
civilisation
Art
1
Recreating Mayan masks
- Exploring the mask of Lord Pakal
- Investigating other uses for Mayan masks
- Using a variety of techniques, including papier máché to
create Mayan masks
2
Using clay to recreate Mayan artefacts
- Exploring the Mayans skills of stone-carving and potterymaking
- Looking at a variety of artefacts to gather ideas
- Using clay to create tiles, stelae or coil pots
3
Recreating the Bonampak murals
- Looking at the original Bonampak murals and their
reconstructions
- Recreating the Bonampak murals using pastels
- Recreating the Temple of Murals using a 3D net
Design & Technology
1
Designing, making and evaluating a model of a Mayan temple
- Looking at examples of Mayan temples to explore shape and
structure
- Investigating ways of creating sturdy structures
- Using a variety of materials to design, make and evaluate a
model of a Mayan temple, including using 3D nets
PSHE
1
What were the implications of the Spanish conquest?
- Exploring why the Spanish invaded the lands of the Mayans in
the 16th century
- Evaluating the positive and negative effects of the Spanish
conquest on the Mayan people
2
How do Mayan hierarchies compare with our own?
- Exploring the concept of a hierarchy
- Comparing Mayan governmental hierarchies with those of
the modern UK
- Considering the roles and responsibilities of leaders in different
areas of society
3
Did the Mayans lead healthy lives?
- Clarifying what we mean by the term ‘healthy lifestyle’
- Identifying areas of modern lifestyles that are healthy and
unhealthy
- Identifying areas of Mayan lifestyles that were healthy and
unhealthy
- Testing some healthy Mayan foods
Geography
1
Where did the Mayans live?
- Locating Mesoamerica on a world map
- Identifying the modern countries and cities that are now
located where the Mayans lived
2
What is Mesoamerica like?
- Using a variety of sources of information, including graphs, to
explore the physical geography of Mesoamerica
- Using ‘street view’ functions on online maps to explore the
area and identify features
3
What is life like for modern Mayans?
- Exploring what life is like for modern Mayans and how it is
similar to or different from the life of Mayans in the 1st century
- Using photographs and other sources of information to find out
facts
Further suggestions:
Design & Technology
PE
ICT
1
Design, make and evaluate a Mayan house
1
Choreograph a Mayan dance to celebrate a Mayan religious
festival or to show warriors preparing for battle
1
Create a multimedia presentation about an aspect of Mayan
life, such as religion, family life or food
2
Create healthy Mayan recipes
(see PlanBee’s ‘Aztecs: Aztec Feasts’ DT lessons for ideas)
2
Explore and play a version of the sacred Mayan ball game of
Ōllamaliztli
2
Use animation software to create a film of the Mayan creation
story
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The Mayans
Topic Overview
Understanding the arts
- Investigating Mayan masks and their uses
- Exploring techniques for creating masks,
including papier mâché
- Designing and making a Mayan mask for a
particular purpose
- Exploring Mayan artistic skills, such as stonecarving and pottery-making
- Developing techniques when working with
clay to create a particular artefact
- Exploring the Bonampak murals and what
they can tell us about Mayan life
- Recreating the Bonampak murals using
pastels and/or a 3D model
Understanding physical development,
health and well-being
- Defining what is meant by a ‘healthy
lifestyle’
- Exploring the lifestyle of the Mayans and
assessing how healthy it was
- Comparing modern lifestyles to Mayan
lifestyles to consider which is healthier
- Considering ways of making our lifestyles
healthier
- Tasting and describing healthy Mayan foods
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Understanding English,
communication and language
- Using pictures or artefacts and ruins to generate questions
and establish facts
- Presenting a role-play to show the Spanish discovery of
Mayan ruins
- Using the ‘hot seat’ to interview a Spanish conquistador
and establish how he felt on discovering the Mayan ruins
- Writing a diary entry as a Spanish conquistador
- Creating wordsearches to help identify Mayan city states
- Completing sentences using given vocabulary
- Using a storyboard to re-tell the Mayan creation myth
- Exploring the Mayan writing system and comparing it to the
modern alphabet
- Considering the importance of Mayan writing for finding
out about events in the past
- Using a variety of sources, including non-fiction texts and
photos, to gather information
- Sorting sentences into true or false piles to show information
- Holding a class debate about whether the conquest of the
Mayans by the Spanish conquistadors was had a positive
or negative effect on the Mayan people
- Sorting school rules from most to least important
- Create school rules that show a responsible leader
- Reading fictional accounts of a day in the life of both
Mayan and modern people to compare lifestyles
- Using mindmaps and quizzes to consolidate learning about
the Mayans
Mathematical understanding
- Using 3D nets to create the structure of a Mayan temple
- Creating 3D nets using accurate measurements
- Using a 3D net to create a model of the Temple of Murals
- Using data to create graphs to compare climates
- Using graphs to answer questions about data
- Using Venn diagrams to sort information
- Using Mayan numerals to solve mathematical problems
- Comparing the Mayan calendar with our modern
calendar
Historical, geographical and social
understanding
- Exploring the role of archaeologists and how they
learn about the past
- Identifying what we can and can’t learn from
artefacts ancient civilisations leave behind
- Ordering events chronologically on a timeline
- Identifying Mesoamerica on a world map
- Locating and naming the continents of the world
- Locating and naming the modern-day countries
now situated where the Mayans lived
- Exploring different types of maps and identifying
the various uses of each
- Using maps, including online maps, to identify
areas and features
- Exploring the physical geography of Central
America, including climate, and comparing to the
UK
- Exploring the lifestyle of modern Mayans
- Assessing the impact of the Spanish conquest of
Mayan lands and the effect on the Mayan people
- Understanding the concept of a hierarchy
- Comparing Mayan governmental hierarchies with
how our government is run today
- Exploring the roles and responsibilities of leaders
- Applying the concept of a hierarchy to school life
Scientific and technological
understanding
- Exploring ways of making a sturdy structure for a
Mayan temple
- Choosing appropriate materials and tools to make
a model temple
- Exploring ways of designing a model
- Evaluating a finished product and identifying
strengths and weaknesses
- Exploring the Mayan understanding of astrology
and how this formed the basis for their calendar
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