1. Mexico

2. Facts: Capital city: Mexico City.
also called “Distrito Federal” (federal district) as it is the seat of the country’s government.
Officially known as the United Mexican States
Borders:
North: United States
South: Belize, Guatemala & Caribbean Sea
East: Gulf of Mexico
West: Pacific Ocean

3. Facts: Independence Day: Cinco de Mayo: Treaty of Hidalgo:
Sept. 16, From Spain
Cinco de Mayo:
Commemorates the unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla in 1862
Treaty of Hidalgo:
Mexican American War ( ) giving all lands north of the Rio Grande to the United States

4. Peoples Olmec (1500BC) Toltec (800 BC) Zapotec (600BC)
Maya (2000 BC but reached their height in 250 AD)
Aztecs (1200 AD)
Europeans (1521 – first conquered)

5. The Maya & the Yucatan Peninsula
1: Uxmal
2: Chichen Itza
3: Tulum
4: Tikal
5: Palenque
6: Copan

6. Tulum
Chichen Itza

7. Tikal
Palenque

8. Copan

9. Maya
Other Mayan civilizations found in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala & Belize
AD the Maya flourished
Incredible skills in Mathematics & Astronomy were used to build monuments and temples, calculate time and record historic events.
Advanced system of roads, resevoirs, aqueducts and bridges

10. Maya Math First culture to discover zero
Wrote their numbers vertically
Based on a number system of 20
Only 3 symbols: beans, sticks, shells
5 beans = one stick
shell = zero
Math sheet

11. Mayan Glyphs
Most advanced system of written language of all the native American groups.
Picture writing: Hieroglyphics in which symbols represented objects, actions, ideas or syllables. Complete sentences.
Books: Codices (only 3 have survived)

12. Mayan Games & Rituals
Pelota

13. The Aztecs
Teotihuacan
Tenochtitlan
Tula

14. Legend Human sacrifice to their Gods
Quetzelcoatl
Wanted to expand their territory (Conquerors)
A shaman provided specific instructions:
Build your empire where you see an Eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake….

15. They built their city on Lake Texcoco
Tenochtitlan
They built their city on Lake Texcoco

16. a chinampa that is 8x200 m took about 8 days for four to six men
First, posts were driven into the lake bottom.
Between the posts branches were woven together to create an enclosure.
The enclosure was then filled with soil from the lake bottom. Willow trees were planted along the edges to anchor the chinampa more securely

17. Aztec Calendar 8ftX5ft stone calendar discovered in 1790
Covered with carved geometric symbols
The center features a human like face with a knife blade for a tongue
Sometimes called “Stone of the Sun”
20 day cycle
Aztecs believed there had been four suns “ages” and that they were living in the 5th sun (age): the sun god in center: He is surrounded by the symbols of destruction: jaguars, winds, fires and rains of previous ages

18. Aztec Games & Rituals
Voladores

19. Discover and Conquer Cortes came to “Hispaniola”
Took part in conquest of Cuba before being sent to conquer Mexico.
Founded the city of Veracruz
Encountered the Aztec in 1521
Aztecs believed he was a god so they welcomed him (discovery streaming video)
(pyramid under DF)

20. Today
Smog Acid Rain Poverty