Make calendars, the Aztec way - integrating art in teaching about ancient culture - includes related article

Students explore an ancient culture with this fun hands-on project.

In 1480, the Aztecs of ancient Mexico carved a huge stone calendar that not only helped them keep track of months and days, but also predicted eclipses and recorded important mythological and historical events. The calendar, discovered in recent excavations, weighs 20 tons and stands 12 feet high. Some archaeologists believe that the hearts of sacrifice victims were placed on the stone during ritual ceremonies!

THE USES OF SYMBOLISM

The complicated symbols around the edge of the calendar represent months. The four face panels illustrate the four epochs, or "suns," of the earth's existence. The center face, Tlaltechuhtli, is thought to represent the fifth and present sun. (Interestingly, many Native American tribes also believe that we are living in the fifth world.) It was during the fifth sun that Aztecs believed their society would be destroyed by a fair-skinned conqueror from across the sea. Soon after the stone was carved, the Spanish explorer Cortes marched through Aztec territory, leaving a swath of destruction in his path. THE ART LESSON: MAKING LIFE CALENDARS

Kids will make a calendar recording their own life events using the Aztec calendar as a model.

Intermediate version

Time: 1 hour

Materials: large circle of heavy construction paper or thin cardboard, black crayon, compass, tan tempera paint, crumpled paper towel or sponge, sand

Directions for Students

1. First, think of one or two important events for each year of your life. These events could include learning to walk or talk, the birth of a younger sibling, going to school for the first time, and so forth. Draw pictures that symbolize these events.

2. Draw three inner circles onto the circle of cardboard.

3. Draw the center face, representing the current era, in the center circle. (All drawings should be done in heavy black crayon.)

4. In the second circle, draw four boxes.

5. In the four boxes, draw the sun characters or symbols for each god.

6. Divide the third circle into 12 sections, one for each month of the year. Draw a symbol for each month, (For instance, a snowflake could represent January.)

7. Decorate the outer edge with the important life symbols from step 1.

8. Sponge paint lightly over drawings to create the texture of stone.

9. While it's wet, sprinkle the stone with sand.

Primary version

Time: 30 minutes

Materials: paper plate, black crayon, tan tempera, sand

Directions for Students

1. Draw two inner circles onto the paper plate. 2. Draw the center face in the center circle. 3. In the second circle, draw four boxes. 4. Draw a picture symbolizing a season in each. 5. Repeat steps 8 and 9 as described in the intermediate version.

AZTEC RESOURCES

BOOKS

The Flame of Peace: A Tale of the Aztecs by Deborah Nourse Lattimore (Harper, 1987) is a great source of details about Aztec life. (For more on Lattimore, see Meet the Author.)

The Hungry Woman: Myths and Legends of the Aztecs by John Bierhorst (Morrow, 1984) is another Aztec folktale.

Aztecs by Jill Hughes (Gloucester, 1986) tells the story of this civilization from its nomadic tribal beginnings.

SOFTWARE

Knowledge Adventure

(Knowledge Adventure, $79.95; MS-DOS; |818~ 542-4205) is a history reference database that lets kids zoom in on a particular geographic region (for instance, the forests of Mexico) or a year on the time line and click the mouse to find out more about significant events in history.

CURRICULUM CONNECTION

Try this activity to give the art project a social studies twist.

Before showing kids the Aztec calendar, divide the class into small groups. Ask each group to research one aspect of Aztec life (food, dwellings, art, and so forth). Students should write each fact they find on an individual index card, and add a picture that symbolizes that fact. For instance, when listing crops the Aztecs harvested--like sweet potatoes--kids could draw a picture of this vegetable. To show one way that food was grown and harvested, they could draw a compact picture of Aztec chinampas, or irrigated fields, and a harvest implement.

Write the general category headings on the chalkboard, then ask students to present their information to the class. Display accompanying symbols beneath the appropriate categories. Ask students to use this symbol key to look carefully at photographs of the Aztec stone calendar. Can they see any similarities between their symbols and those used by the Aztecs?

Use kid-made symbols to craft your own class calendars. Cut a very large circle out of butcher paper or posterboard and follow steps 2 through 6 in the intermediate art lesson above. Let each group of students choose several symbols to draw on the edge of the calendar. See page 42 for a Native American story about how the moon has helped another culture keep track of time. MARY PARKS has taught art to students in grades K-12 for 17 years. She currently teaches in Naperville Community School District 203 in Naperville, Illinois.

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