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Middle America

5A and 5B students have Science and Social Studies on alternating weeks.

In Social Studies we are completing a unit on The Ancient Americans.  This week and next, we will focus on Middle America.

No one really knows where the first peoples of the Americas came from or when they arrived.  What we can know, from artifacts and  archaeological evidence, is that there were diverse groups and they slowly moved throughout North and South America.


Early American Images (in the public domain):

Some of these first Americans were:
 
  • The Olmecs
  • The Incas
  • The Mound Buiders
  • The Anasazi
  • The Chinooks
  • The Makahs
  • The Hopis
  • The Navajos
  • The Mandans
  • The Kiowas
  • The Iroquois
  • The Cherokees
  • The Mayans
  • The Aztecs

The text for this week is found on pages 98-111 in our Social Studies textbook.

Vocabulary words for this lesson include:

city-state
class
noble
slavery
empire
emperor
tribute

Vocabulary words are defined in the text directly or can be understood by using context clues.  If you need a dictionary, you can use the one on this site.  It's located under the Reading tab.


  • The focus of this lesson will be to study how Indian peoples of Middle America met many of their needs by borrowing ideas from other peoples.  We will also discuss how people today meet their needs by borrowing ideas from others.

  • We will also continue to practice our map reading skills.

What's Coming Up...



As we begin the next unit, we will illustrate and discuss the different explorers from Europe that arrived in the New World

Activity: worksheet 18-Latitude

Students and teacher will read and discuss the story:

“The World in 1492”

Once the story is completed, the students will work in groups to complete in-class activity that includes comprehension questions.


Activity: worksheet 18-Latitude







Picture