Anthropologist – a scientist who studies natural behavior and cultural development of humans

Archeologist-very similar to an anthropologist

Economist- A person who specializes in economy

Historian- a person who specializes in history

Linguist- a person who studies ancient language

Theologian- A person who studies religion of civilizations

Essential Questions: Throughout your journey, keep in mind what you want to inform the world about the Aztecs:
Who are the Aztecs? The Aztecs were a civilization that had no home and was mostly rejected to stay in foreign lands that reminds me of the Jews in WW2. The Aztecs were rejected constantly for their “barbaric sacrifices and behavior. Most of Mexico that day hated the Aztecs and feared them for their warrior skills.

What made them a civilization?

Is there evidence today of Aztec influence?

Step 1:
Where did the Aztecs originally live? What prompted them to relocate? Where did they end up and why? Chose an artifact, which you feel best, represents this event. Support your choice. In Atzlan, which has an unsure location. It is said to be located northwest of Mexico.
Step 2:
What were the pros and cons of settling in the middle of a lake? Describe the lay of the land and chose an image for your exhibit.
Their needed building resources, like stone, and a firm foundation wasn’t available. Especially how they had to use sticks, and logs to make their houses. The only good thing about this place is that there is a lot of snakes and that what Aztecs like.

Step 3:
Which gods were worshiped? The pyramids were built for what purpose? Xipe – Totec, HUITZILOPOCHTLI, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Chalchiuhtlicue. The sacred pyramids of the Aztecs were specifically to worship the gods by human sacrifice.

Step 4:
Who are the different members of Aztec society? What are their roles? Choose an artifact that represents the social order of Aztec society. Slaves: The children of poor parents could be sold, usually for only a certain time period. Slaves could buy back their freedom. The slaves that escaped and reached the royal palace without being caught were given their freedom instantly.
Commoners: The most numerous social group was known as the macehualtin; these people were engaged in agriculture and the common trades. Although they worked the land in family units and were allowed to keep their produce, the  inhabitants of the neighborhood or calpulli collectively owned the land itself.

Commoners were given lifetime ownership of an area of land. The lowest groups of commoners were not allowed to own property. They were tenant farmers; they just got to use the land and never be owners.
The lower social orders were made up by peasants, who like the European serfs, were attached to the lands owned by the nobility and were obliged to cultivate them in exchange for part of the harvest.
Nobility:
The nobilities were the people who were nobles by birth, priests, and those who earned their rank.
Step 5:
The Aztecs have a spoken language. What was it called? Did they use any other forms of communication? Include an example of either written or visual language of the Aztecs.  The spoken language of the Aztecs is called Nahua. Their writing was in glyphs and the glyphs were combined to make sentences.
Step 6:
How did the Aztecs grow food and what was their main crop? Did they trade and with whom? Did they have a currency (money)? Find an image for your exhibit about making a living Aztec style. Cocoa beans were the Aztecs currency. The cocoa beans were even referred to as the drink for nobility. There important and long forgotten crop is called the chia seed oil.
Step 7:
Discuss the Impact of Spanish Contact 1519 from both the Aztec point of view and the Spanish point of view. Find an image depicting this event. The Aztecs saw the leader of the Spanish as the reincarnation of one of their gods, the believed in that because of one there calendars or religious events charters said that that the humanized form of a god would come from the east coast of modern Mexico. It was weird how Cortes arrived at the same place for told to the prediction .The Spanish (mostly other Indian tribes) thought the Aztecs were barbarians and murderers because they had seen there way of human sacrifice and how one of the Indian kings daughter was sacrificed.
Step 8: Fall of the Empire
Discuss La Malinche or Dona Marina. Debate her positive/negative impact on Mexico past and present. What does the term Mestizo refers to? What influences remain today from Aztec culture of the past?
La Malinche is a slave, interpreter, secretary, mistress, mother of the first “Mexican”. Her name spells controversy to Mexicans. The debate about how she is a traitor of how she saved Mexico from the, “bloodthirsty” rulers. The Aztecs are the ones who say that she is a traitor to Mexico, while the others say that she is a savoir. I say that Cortes was just controlling her and that was the reason why Cortes had so many Indian supporters. She did make what Mexico what it is today, and I think the Aztecs would have made Mexico a place of war then what it is today. So I finalize my decision that she did it all for the well being of Mexico.
The Term Mestizo means Mexican hater, it is a racist’s word that shouldn’t be said to any Mexicans.

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