Part One Using the links below, discover the historical significance of the modern day flag of Mexico Step One: Looking at this flag, please list the symbols/images, and colours that you see on this flag.

Step Two: Please proceed to the following link and read the Place of the Prickly Pear Cactus Prickly Pear Cactus Story

Step Three: It is important to verify what you find on the internet with other sources, please connect to the following link and answer the following questions: Checking resources According to the text, who appeared in the dream? Who was killed? Where did his heart fall? What grew there? What is there now? What should the person having the dream do? What does Tenochtitlan mean? Based on your study of this short text, form a hypothesis about the importance of Tenochtitlan to the Aztecs.

Step Four: What images does the legend of the founding of Tenochtitlan have in common with the flag of modern day Mexico?

Step Five: Follow the picture link below to verify what you have learned about the Aztec legend you have summarized above and to discover what the coloured bands on the flag represent, as well as the proper name of the animal that you have identified on Mexico’s flag.

Part Two Using the following information, you will discover the architecture and urban development of Tenochtitlan Step One: Click on the Alonso Map of Tenochtitlan below You can zoom in on this map to see things more clearly  What areas of the map are water? What areas are land? How can you tell?  Identify the kinds of buildings do you see on the map.  Some of the liens crossing the map are brown, while others are blue.  What does this suggest about the kinds of transportation networks the Aztecs built in Tenochtitlan?  What are people illustrated on the map doing? What does this suggest about how people sustained themselves (lived) in Tenochtitlan?  Based on your study of the map, write a 3-4 sentence description of Tenochtitlan.

Part Three Using the following resources, you will learn about Aztec daily life and religion Step One: Follow the picture link below to Cortés's Second Letter to Charles V and answer the questions on the next slide. You may find the following definitions helpful for your reading: Temixtitlan –Cortes’ word for Tenochtitlan Porticoes – doorways or entryways Wrought and unwrought stone – stones that have been shaped and those that are plain Apothecaries shops – pharmacies Braziers – a pan holding grilling coals, or a grill Maize – corn Magistrates - judges

Hernan Cortes: Second Letter to Charles V, 1520 Daily life in Tenochtitlan Scroll down to the paragraph that begins, “This city has many public squares…” About how many people traded in the one market that Cortes described? What kinds of items were offered for trade in the market? How was the market organized? That is were items sold everywhere, or not? Explain. Cortes wrote, “[t]hey sell everything by number or measure; at least so far, we have not observed them to sell anything by weight.” What do you think he meant by this? If there was a problem or controversy in the market, how was it resolved? Based on Cortes’ description of the market at Tenochtitlan, name at least four occupations Aztec people might have been engaged in (for example, farming). Explain your thinking. Aztec Religion Scroll down to the paragraph that begins, “Three halls are in this grand temple...” what did the Aztecs believe would happen if their gods were “ill treated”? Scroll down to the paragraph that begins, “The figures of the idols …” Describe how the Aztecs made their idols. For what purposes did they make the idols?

Aztec Religion Continued Step Two Follow the link below and answer the following questions: Aztec Ceremony What is happening to the people on the steps? What is being held up to the sky, towards the sun? Where do these events seem to be taking place? (At what kind of building)? Follow the link below and answer the following questions: Aztec Archeology Study the image of the Tzompantli, or altar of skulls from the Aztec Templo Mayor. Why might the Aztecs have placed this skull rack outside a temple? Reflect on the following: Despite the images and text you have studied in this lesson, some critics argue that Aztec human sacrifice is a myth because no Spaniards actually witnessed it. If this is true, why might the Spanish Conquistadors have perpetuated the myth that the Aztecs engaged in brutal human sacrifice? Explain your thinking. What do you think, was Aztec human sacrifice a myth? Why or why not?