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8th grade · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 13

Maya, Aztec & Inca

Empires of the Americas

What your child practices

How the Maya, Aztec (Mexica) and Inca arose, their cities, farming, achievements in mathematics and astronomy, and how the Aztec and Inca empires were defeated by Spain. Maya, Nahua and Quechua peoples are living communities today.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 8.6 · the Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. The Maya built city-states such as Tikal, at their height before about 900 CE.
  2. The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan on a lake; books like the Codex Mendoza record Aztec life in pictures and words.
  3. The Inca Empire, centered at Cusco in the Andes, built a huge road network.

Example: Cusco was the capital of which empire? Cusco is high in the Andes mountains. The Maya and Aztecs lived in Mesoamerica. Cusco was the Inca capital. Answer: the Inca Empire

Maya, Aztec & Inca in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 5 of 13 in 8th grade Social Studies, after African Kingdoms & Empires and before Medieval Europe.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    English words like 'chocolate' and 'tomato' come from…

    • Greek
    • Quechua
    • Nahuatl, the Aztec language

  2. Question 2

    Tupac Amaru II led a large revolt against Spanish rule in Peru in…

    • 1066
    • 1780
    • 1945

  3. Question 3

    Today, millions of people in Mexico and Guatemala speak…

    • only Latin
    • only English
    • Maya languages and Nahuatl
    • Greek

  4. Question 4

    The Inca kept records using knotted strings called…

    • glyphs
    • quipu
    • codices

  5. Question 5

    Chichén Itzá was an important Maya city in the…

    • Yucatán
    • Andes
    • Amazon

  6. Question 6

    Inca farmers grew potatoes on…

    • terraces cut into mountainsides
    • floating gardens
    • desert sand

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