The Yucatan: An Upcoming Open Ended Social Studies Expedition

Editor

In late November, Openendedsocialstudies.org founder Thomas Kenning will undertake a research expedition to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.  This trip will form the basis of a new set of lessons covering the Maya civilization, furthering our mission of presenting original and dynamic classroom materials focusing on parts of the world neglected by traditional world history textbooks in the United States.

These Maya lessons will join the dozens of other lessons already available for free on Openendedsocialstudies.org.  Coverage of this great civilization brings the ongoing project of The Americas: A Free, Open Textbook another step closer in its long journey to completion.  The whole expedition will be covered on the Adventure Blog, where you’ll be able to tag along to the ruins of Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Izamal and get a quick rundown on the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya.

Until then, check out the Openendedsocialstudies lessons on:

  • Teotihuacan: The Place Where the Gods were Born (Free online text suited for middle or high school classroom use, guided reading questions, and suggested activities): Who build these incredible ruins outside of present day Mexico City, which include one of the largest pyramids ever built anywhere?  How did this mysterious civilization influence its neighbors and successors?
  • The Aztec: Life Under the Fifth Sun in Old Mexico: A basic overview of the Aztec-Mexica, one of the final great civilizations to arise in the western hemisphere before the paradigm shifting Columbian Exchange, including the dramatic ways in which they harnessed and changed the environment around them to grow their capital city into one of the largest in the world.
  • The Inca: Andean Civilization in the Realm of the Four Parts (Free online text suited for middle or high school classroom use, guided reading questions, and suggested activities): The tremendous success of the Inca was attained by harnessing and adapting the incredible achievements of the earlier peoples of the Andes, one of only six places in the world where civilization developed independently.  A lesson in two parts: