Building pyramids
Background information
In Meso-America the building of a city was, as it is in any traditional society, an act of heroic dimensions that required a hero with extraordinary powers to accomplish. It existed, as Mercea Eliade has suggested, in a cyclical time that recurred ad infinitum. This is not the realm of history. This is the time of myths. Building a city always starts in the beginning of time, at that time. For the Aztecs, the building of the city of Tenochtitlan served as a realization of the power of their gods. The embodiment of the power of the earth and the gods was in the presence of a mountain. This is the origin of the power of life and death. The mountain has this power, and this power has to be represented symbolically. The pyramid is its embodiment, the representation or the powers that the Aztecs believed in. To build the city of the Aztecs we must first begin with the pyramid, and from this central piece we depart to other explorations of their culture.
The Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan represented the most sacred of places in the Aztec world. As noted above, it was here that the main transactions of the most important elements of power of the empire took place. Redistribution of goods, sacrificial rituals, and the regeneration of cultural values were enacted here, therefore the natural inclination to build this structure as a means to further construct other buildings in the city.
Task
Students are to build, using a scale appropriate for the classroom, a model of the main pyramid in the sacred precinct in the heart of Tenochtitlan. Students are to use a scale that would allow the growth of the city to take place in a manageable way. In reality, the size of the temenos, or sacred precinct, was about eleven hundred feet by one thousand feet. The height of the pyramid was about one hundred feet. These dimensions gives us the relation 11:10. In the same way, the pyramid in this scale is one. From here students could depart to build just about any part of the city. Our task now is to build the pyramid. In this way, we might say that if the pyramid had an altitude of about 4 inches, the city itself would extend about forty feet around.
@1H:Lesson Three
Build the model of Tenochtitlan
Background Information
The city of Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities of the world. This city was thought to be indestructible. It was thought to be the foundations of heaven.
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Tenochtitlan
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Proud of itself
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Is the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
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Here no one fears to die in war.
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This is our glory.
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This is Your Command,
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Oh Giver of life!
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Have this is mind, oh princes,
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Do not forget it.
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Who could conquer Tenochtitlan?
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Who could shake the foundations of heaven?
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Aztec Poem
The building of Tenochtitlan is a large undertaking that needs to be planned well in advance with plenty of time to work on a regular basis. It is said that this city had about 60,000 public buildings. It is advisable to focus on only a portion of the city to depict the grandeur of its palaces and monuments. The temenos actually depicts its greatness. The presence of the Templo Mayor and the convergence of all the roads of the empire on it give an idea of the complexity of the Aztec world. Further, the city itself could not have any meaning without the construction of the chinampas, or floating gardens that made the Aztecs the most powerful nation in the area because that would be a people without food.
Task
Students are to construct a model of the city of Tenochtitlan, using manageable scale and archeological information extracted from books about the subject.
Materials
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Glue
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Construction paper
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Balsa wood
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Water paints
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Brushes
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Cardboard
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Cotton
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Procedure
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--Give students an assessment list about a model. And follow this through the task.
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--Cut wood and cardboard in accordance to the scale determined. We used the scale 10 by 11 by 1 when building the sacred precinct and the main pyramid. Cut it in small squares and rectangles. Glue these shapes to build pyramids and little buildings. Glue them to the surface of the construction paper, making sure that the surface is the configuration of water, land and plazas. Make these configurations with color and texture. Use sand or dirt for this effect. Paint the little buildings and make sure that they follow the format of the archeological texts. Make sure that students enjoy this task.
VINCENT E MAURO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
LISTA DE EVALUACION DE TAREAS DE UN MODELO
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Puntaje de la Evaluación
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Posibles
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Puntaje
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Obtenido
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Elementos
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Puntos
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Propio
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Maestro
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1. Nosotros prestamos atención
a las instrucciones con mucho cuidado. ______ _____ ______
2. Hay una explicación clara de lo que intenta
demostrar el modelo.
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3. Nuestro grupo pudo llegar a un acuerdo
sobre qué y cómo hacer el trabajo.
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4. Preparamos los materiales con cuidado. ______ ______ ______
5. Pudimos hacer buenas observaciones
durante nuestro trabajo. _______ _______ ______
6. La persona encargada de tomar notas
tomó la información generada en las
conversaciones del grupo. ______ _______ _______
7. Usamos medidas a escala y estimamos
cuando necesario.. _______ ________ _______
8. Usamos colores, títulos, y líneas claras
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para expresar lo que era Tenochtitlán. _______ _________ _______
9. El trabajo es nítido y bien presentado.
_______ __________ _______
10.La estructura es fuerte y durable..
______ __________ ________
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PUNTAJE TOTAL 100% __________ ________ ________
VINCENT E MAURO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
PERFORMANCE TASK ASSESSMENT LIST FOR A MODEL OF TENOCHTITLAN
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Assessment Points
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Points
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Earned Assessment
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Elements
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Possible Self Teacher
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1. We listened to the directions and
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______ _____ ______
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instructions very carefully.
2. There is a clear explanation of the
Meaning of the model.
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______ ______ ______
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3. Our group was able to come to an
agreement about how and what to do.
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4. We prepared our materials carefully. . ______ ______ ______
5. We were able to make good observations
throughout our task. _______ _______ ______
6. Our recorder was able to keep track of the
information generated in the big and
little chats in our group. ______ _______ _______
7. We used excellent estimations and measure
the elements of model carefully
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8.We used colors, titles and made clear
lines.
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9.The work is neat and well presented.
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______ __________ _______
10. The structure of the model is strong
and safe.
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_______ __________ ________
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TOTAL POINTS
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100% __________ ________
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