Y8 Latin America - The Rise of Civilisations

Y8 Latin America -

The Rise of Civilisations

Whilst we wait for others to join grab yourself a pen and paper if your have them ready to take notes during the lesson.

Question: What do you think the word civilisation means?

Last week we talked about the early inhabitants of Latin America.

Let's see what you can remember...

Multiple Choice

1. What were the early people of Latin America?

• Hunter-gatherers

• Farmers

• Traders

• Fishers

Multiple Choice

2. What does nomadic mean?

• Moving from place to place

• Having nowhere to live

• Always staying in one place

• Living in small groups

Multiple Choice

3. The early people lived with nature and used it carefully so it wouldn't run out. What do we call this?

• Living sustainably

• Living suitably

• Living sympathetically

• Living stress-free

Multiple Choice

4. What is an ecosystem made up of?

• A large range of living things (organisms)

• The environment and climate of a certain place

• All the living and non-living things on planet earth

• The organisms and environment in a certain place

Multiple Choice

5. Which ecosystem of Latin America had the highest number of organisms?

• The Amazon rainforest

• The Atacama Desert

• The Andes Mountains

• The Pamaps Grasslands

The Rise of Civilisations

Learning outcomes:

- To describe a Latin American Civilisation

- To understand how the discovery of agriculture changed the lives of early peoples

Key term check - Civilisation

• What do you think this term means?

• 'A civilisation is a large group of people living together peacefully in a stable community'

• How might this be different from hunter-gatherers?

What civilisations existed in Latin America?

• Many civilisations have existed over thousands of years.

• As some failed, others took over their territory.

• Famous civilisations are the Maya, Aztecs and Inca.

• They occupied the jungles of Mexico, Central America and the Amazon, as well as the Andes mountains and Atacama desert!

The Inca 1100-1533

• The Inca civilisation occupied the northern part of the Andes

• They were ruled by an emporer, and believed he was the son of their creator god, Viracocha

• They conquered many tribes who paid tribute and followed Inca rule

• They built roads and bridges all along the length of the Andes

• They built huge cities in the jungles and mountains

Open Ended

Describe the location of the Inca civilisation

(Challenge: why was road building so important to the Incas?)

A farming society

• The Incas were a farming society - they relied on agriculture

• They built ingenious inventions to grow crops in cold, dry places

• They used terraces to create farms on steep mountain slopes

• They built complex irrigation systems to transport water to their crops across the mountains

Open Ended

Why would it have been hard to grow crops high in the Andes mountains?

Video

The Inca: Masters of the Clouds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyVXQ2_FrcM

18:25 - 22.35

Multiple Select

How did the Inca use technology to grow crops on cold mountains? (2)

• They used rock terraces to capture the sun's energy

• They created circular terraces to block cold winds

• They used hoses to water their crops all year round

Multiple Select

What did the terraces allow the Incas to do? (2)

• Grow a range of crops that needed different climates

• Grow crops that need tropical climates like bananas

• Protect their crops from droughts and frosts

Why was agriculture important?

• Agriculture was vital as it meant that people didn't have to constantly worry about having to find food to survive.

• This gave people the chance to do other jobs like being emperor, priest, warrior or scribe!

• Having lots of food also allowed people to live together in much larger communities.

Open Ended

Why was farming was important to early civilisations?

Open Ended

What did farming allow people to do that they couldn't as hunter-gatherers?

The rise of inequality

• The theme for this term is wealth and inequality.

• Inequality means money and resources being shared unequally.

• A small group of people might have a lot, whilst most people might have very little.

• Today there is lots of inequality in the world, more than ever before.

• Do you think this is fair?

Poll

Which opinion do you agree the most with:

Is inequality fair?

• Yes - people are rich because they work harder than others

• No - wealth should be shared more equally between everyone

• Sometimes - some people have more skills than others

• I'm not sure about my opinion / I have mixed opinions

Inequality in early civilisations

• Controlling agriculture allowed a few individual rulers to became very wealthy and powerful.

• Priests and nobles also became rich and important advisors.

• Warriors and artisans helped to keep law and order.

• Many farmers and traders were needed to grow and trade crops.

• Serfs and slaves had hard jobs working on farms and serving.

Open Ended

Why did agriculture make communities more unequal?

Was Inca society unfair?

• There was no concept of money, so most trade was done in crops – meaning farmers were wealthy! 

• There was no land ownership, land was shared. Everyone had a home and a place to farm.

• Extra food was kept in public storehouses. When drought led to a bad harvest the poor, sick and elderly were looked after.

• Slaves could earn their freedom.

Open Ended

Compare Inca society to today. Which do you think is more unfair?

Give reasons for your views, using examples.

Opinion: I think that...

Reason: I think this because...

Evidence: For example...

Link: This shows that...

Agriculture and Religion

• Agriculture changed they way people thought about nature.

• The role of the priest class was to ensure that the gods remained happy, at whatever cost!  

• The Aztecs thought human sacrifice would be a great way to do this!

• Tlaloc the Aztec god of rain was appeased through the tears of sacrificed children!

Image drawn by a Spanish visitor to the Aztec civilisation, in modern-day Mexico

Open Ended

How might farming have changed early people's relationship with nature?

Open Ended

Why do you think agriculture caused the Aztecs to commit human sacrifice?