Appleseeds articles from December 2003

Appleseeds archives from December 2003

Ancient Mexico--where and when.(Where in the World?)
December 1, 2003... Mexico is our closest neighbor to the south. If we could travel back in time, we'd hove to go back more than 12,000 years to meet the first people who lived there. Those early people moved across the land, hunting animals for food and clothing,...

A day in the life of a Mayan boy and an Aztec girl.
December 1, 2003... Let's head south and jump back in time to the year 550... Chuk! Chuk! Chuk! Pacal (pah-CAHL), a typical Mayan boy, jabbed his digging stick against the hard earth until he made a small hole. He took several beans and corn kernels from the...

School days.(education in Aztec civilization)
December 1, 2003... In ancient Mexico, Aztec schools were very different places from the school you go to today. Schools were part of the temples, where priests worked, worshipped, and taught. Sometime between the ages of 5 and 9, children went to live and study...

Games of ancient Mexico.
December 1, 2003... Shaquille O'Neal plays an awesome game of basketball. Although he plays hard, sometimes his team loses. Losing can be disappointing, but it's nothing to lose your head over--that is, unless you lived in ancient Mexico. One of the most...

Market day.(in Aztec civilization)
December 1, 2003... "Hurry, Balam (bah-LAM)!" I struggled to catch up with my father. My neck ached from carrying the heavy basket of salt. Why did my brother get to carry the feathers? Thousands of people filled the canoes that would take us to the great Aztec...

Celebrating the days of the dead: Los Dias de Los Muertos.
December 1, 2003... Ooh, skeletons and skulls! Don't be cared, they're friendly. Toy skeletons hold bunches of flowers and ride in tiny cars, and the skulls are made of sugar and are tasty to eat. In Mexico, at the beginning of November, it's time to...

What's for dinner?(Aztec foods)
December 1, 2003... Do you like corn? If you were an Aztec, you sure did. Corn was a main food at most Aztec meals. Women and girls worked hard to turn dried corn kernels into soft, flat corn cakes, or tortillas, called tlaxcalli (tlash-CAHL-lee). Here's how they...

Eat like the Aztecs.(Fun Stuff)
December 1, 2003... You need * 2 cups cooked black beans * 1 cup tomato puree * chili powder * 2 corn tlaxcalli (tortillas, or corn cakes) per person Remember: No cooking without an adult! Heat the beans on the stove over low heat....

Did you know?(Fascinating Facts About Mesoamericans)
December 1, 2003... Have you ever wondered what's beautiful to people, in other cultures? Did you ever wonder who first thought up some of the things we do today? Read on for some interesting facts about the Maya and Aztec people of Mesoamerica. * The Maya...

Mountains of stone.(pyramids in ancient Mexico)
December 1, 2003... The people of ancient Mexico built huge stone pyramids in the center of their cities. They built the pyramids to look like mountains because they believed mountains were special, sacred places where the gods lived. The rulers of the cities...

Flowers and songs: an Aztec poem.
December 1, 2003... First, a poem in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. Second, the same poem, translated into Spanish. Third, the same poem in English. What do you think it means? Cuicatli quicaqui In noyol nichoca: Ye nicnotlamati Tiga...

Math in Mesoamerica.(By the Numbers)
December 1, 2003... Count to 10. It's so easy that you don't even need to think about it. But what if you lived in a time when other kinds of numbers were used? How would you count? The ancient Maya and Aztec people each created their own number systems. ...

The Aztec Sun Stone: a different kind of calendar.
December 1, 2003... What would you do if your calendar weighed more than 20 tons and was 12 feet wide? You sure couldn't turn the pages But this calendar doesn't have any pages to turn. The Aztec Sun Stone is a huge, round calendar carved out of an enormous block...

Wind brings music to earth: an Aztec myth.(Reading Corner)
December 1, 2003... Tezcatlipoca (tez-caht-lee-PO-cah), the god of the four quarters of heaven, came to visit the newly created Earth. It pleased him to see the world so beautiful. Earth was filled with light and color, delicious fruit, and beautiful flowers....

Branching out.(books about the Aztecs and Mayas)(Bibliography)
December 1, 2003... In Aztec Times (If You Were There Series), by Antony Mason (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers), explore the rich culture of the Aztec capital. Rewrite history while playing The Final Conquest on the game board in the book. How Would...