7.7 Latin America
Media Guide
| Name | Type | Description |
The Road to El Dorado | DVD | Disneyesque animated movie about two Spaniards who travel to the new world. Some surprisingly good content (moreso than in the Disney films) and a fairly good movie. Typically this unit comes up during testing each year so I show the whole thing. If not, the ball game scene is definitely worth showing on its own. |
Time Life: Lost Civilzations | DVD | There are episodes in this collection exploring both the Maya and the Inca. They are easily the two best episodes in the series. While admittedly slow in parts both are fantastic for classroom use if broken up. I show many parts of both episodes. |
Apocalypto | DVD | Largely inappropriate for the classroom but there is a scene where a group of tribal slaves are led through the city on the way to a sacrifice that is simply incredible. |
500 Nations | DVD | This is a very good series about the history of native tribes in the western hemisphere. Episode 1 covers the Maya, episode 2 covers the Aztec. Definitely slow at times but works great as a summary piece for each civilization. |
Mystery of the Maya | DVD | Arguably the worst IMAX movie ever made but that still leaves it on the "pretty good" list. The problem with this one is the narration which is awful throughout. The visuals, however, are stunning and there is one section on Mayan math that is worth showing even with the narration. |
Engineering an Empire | DVD | With episodes on both the Maya and Aztec (where's the Inca love?!) you can't go wrong here. Every episode of this series is excellent and these are no different. I would say the Mayan episode is one of the weaker ones but the Aztec is easily among the best. |
| In Search of History: The Aztec Empire | DVD | Fairly good documentary with enough reenactments to stay interesting in spurts. There are probably too many talking heads for a full showing but easily broken into chunks to use in lectures. |
Unsolved History: Aztec Temple | DVD | Buy it. I was sitting in a hotel room one summer during an education conference and happened to flip to this playing on Discovery. I kid you not it changed my view of history education. It is presented (like all Unsolved History episodes) in an investigative format and this one just goes above and beyond even that. I always show this in full. Do not buy this on Amazon, it is only $10 through Discovery. |
NOVA: Secrets of the Lost Empires - Inca | DVD | Good documentary that I've shown in full when in a pinch. It is the story of a modern recreation of an Inca rope bridge using Inca techniques and materials. |
Simpsons Season 10: The Old Man and the C Student | DVD | Not much here just a quick joke about Superintendent Chalmer's upcoming vacation to Lake Titicaca. |
Animaniacs Season 2: Lake Titicaca | DVD | Wonderful song about Lake Titicaca, perfect for middle school kids. |
| "Cortez The Killer" from Neil Young's "Zuma" | CD | The CD is called Zuma, the song itself is Cortez the Killer. The song tells a very utopian story about what Latin America was like before Cortez arrived. To Young's credit when written in 1975 this was a faily standard view. But today to call the Aztec peaceful is ridiculous. Still, with higher level kids the song can serve as a good analysis tool. |
| "People of the Sun" By Rage Against the Machine from "Evil Empire" | CD | Similar to the song above but far more radical politically. It pretty much supports revolution against the U.S. so you may want to be wary of that. Still, I think it would make for a good discussion in a high level class. |
| Decoding the Past: Maya Doomsday Prophecy | DVD | Excellent History Channel documentary that explores the Mayan Calendar's apparent prediction that the world will end in December of 2012. It does feature talking heads at times but the information is very engaging for kids. Highly recommended. |
Austin Powers 3: Goldmember | DVD | There's a very short clip of Goldmember saying how much he loves gold. I use it when I introduce Cortes and Pizarro. |
Teacher's Guide - Lesson plans, lecture notes and activities for Latin America including the Maya, Aztec and Inca
Part 1: The Maya
Lecture Notes
Labs and Worksheets
I. Intro and Geography
a. The first section of the notes covers the adapations the Mayans made to their environment to make it more hospitable.
b. This section also includes the Maya Chapter Walk.
II. Mayan Society
a. Part 2 of the notes covers slavery, writing, and Mayan opinions on beauty.
b. The "Maya Culture Shock" lab can be completed either before or after the notes. In this lab students will read about Mayan beauty, attempt to decipher Mayan heiroglyphs and explore the Mayan math system.
i. I did this lab in small groups. As the groups finished each part they would raise their hands. If they got the answers the right I'd give them the next piece. The group that completed the most in the periods were the winners.
III. Society and the Calendar
a. Part 3 of the notes finishes up the society discussion by exploring the Mayan religion. That then transitions into an exploration of the Mayan Calendar and its impliciations for the Mayan religion.
b. The History Channel video "Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy" fits perfectly into this section. Alternately, this is a good spot for some book questions.
IV. Government and the Collapse
a. The final section covers the role of the king in the Mayan culture and the rise of the city-state system. It ends with a brief exploration of the collapse of the Classic Maya and the ultimate end brought about by the Spanish.
b. The final activity of this unit is a stations lab based on the fall of the Maya entitled CSI: Copan. This lab gives the students multiple pieces of information regarding the fall and requires them to write up what they believed led to the fall. We've recently updated this to make it very media-heavy. If you'd like some information on the new version contact me via the contact page. Here's a trailer for it to give you an idea.
Part 2: Aztec/Inca
I. Aztec Culture (Slides 1-24)
a. Here I use a “shotgun” approach to the presentation of the pre-Columbian Aztecs. There are multiple topics covered in very little detail. In the past I’ve done far deeper explorations but changes in our pacing have required me to cut way back.
b. The Aztec/Inca chapter walk can fit here or the Unsolved History: Aztec Temple video. There is no lab (yet) for the Aztecs.
II. Aztec Government and the Influence of the Spanish (25-41)
a. This opens with a quick explanation of how the Aztecs expanded their empire angering other native Mexican tribes. It then tells the story of Cortes’ arrival and ultimate defeat of the Aztecs.
b. Whichever activity was not used before should be used here.
III. Inca Culture
a. As above this is a quick survey of pre-Columbian Inca culture with an emphasis on the geography of the Andes.
b. I did this unit during testing so no labs. I showed the NOVA video about Inca building techniques.
IV. Atahualpa and Pizarro
a. Just like above this shows the impact of the Spanish on the Inca. There is a clip from the film Royal Hunt of the Sun showing the meeting between the two men. The movie isn’t very good at all but the scene is and it is worth tracking down.