Topic: Aztec Geography Unit: Early Americas

Essential Question

•Why did the Aztecs build Tenochtitlan where they did and how did they alter the environment to make it work for them?

The Aztecs were living in the swamps, their priests received a vision. In this vision, the Aztec god, Huitzilopochtli, told them to look for a place to settle where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a snake. The Aztecs found this sign on a small reed-covered island in the middle of a shallow lake. There they started building their capital city, Tenochtitlan, in 1325.

The Legend

What image is on theThe Mexican Flag?

What does this tell you about Mexico identity?

Aztecs

A. Geography • The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico in South-Centeral

Mexico. • The valley is about 7 000 feet above sea level and surrounded by

tall mountains on three sides. • The Aztecs supply of water came from the near by mountains

and collected in lakes around Tenochtitlan and close cities. • It was cool in the mountains, so it was only good for limited

amounts of crops. • The rainy season the Aztecs experienced lasted from May to

October. The rainfall amount was about 450mm in the north and up to 1 000mm in the south.

B. Tenochtitlan

• Main Aztec City built in 1325

• Built on an island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.

• Located in modern Mexico. Where Mexico City is today.

• city which was the largest in the world at that time.

• Connected to the shore by 3 wide causeways (raised roads across water)

• They were made of rocks covered with dirt.

Adapations• Since the Aztecs didn’t have much land, they

made their own!• They would take dirt from the bottom of the

lake and add it to their islands.• This process allowed them to increase the size

of Tenochtitlan

Chinampas

• The island city made farming difficult because of limited land.

• To create more land for farming they built “floating gardens” called chinampas.

• They made gardens by putting soil on rafts anchored to trees in the water.

Complete Notes.• Think of two questions• Answer those questions.• Complete Essential Answer•Write Summary

- Merchants- Artisans

Nobles

Social Structure

• Directions: use pages 416-419 of your textbook to correctly label each social class in the social structure temple. Include at least three bullet point facts about each social group.

Postcard from the Past • Pretend you are have traveled back in time and are

visiting Tenochtitlan. Create a “postcard” to tell your family about the city. – The “front” of your postcard should have a colored picture

of the civilization and a short greeting. – The “back” should have a short note to your family

describing three amazing things about Tenochtitlan (one full paragraph) civilization.

– Design a stamp that represents how the Aztecs decided to build Tenochtitlan.

– Use pages 411-413 of the book to help you find information about Tenochtitlan.

Paragraph describing three amazing things about the city.

Stamp showing the story of the city’s beginning

Greeting and picture representing the city

Pretend address to send the postcard.

Homework

• Postcard from the Past!– Use color and outline.– Text in complete sentences and written in ink.