Mexico Mrs. Jennifer Donald

Table of Contents Where is Mexico? The Flag The Language History / Fun Places Music Art Sports & Games People Fun Facts

Where is Mexico? Mexico is a large country in North America Mexico is south of the United States of America!

Where is Mexico? North America Gulf of Mexico Pacific Ocean South America

The Flag of Mexico White shows religion and the purity of the catholic faith in Mexico. Green shows the hope for a better country and unity (everyone working together for the same things). Red represent the blood of Mexican heroes (people who died to help the country).

The Flag of Mexico In the white part of the flag, you see a small picture. The picture shows an eagle with a snake in its beak. The eagle is standing on a cactus. This is a symbol from people called the Aztecs who lived in Mexico many years ago. We will talk about them later. 

The Language in Mexico Most people in Mexico speak Spanish.

The alphabet in Spanish has 30 letters! Let’s Learn Spanish The alphabet in Spanish has 30 letters! Aa Bb Cc ch Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll ll Mm Nn n Oo Pp Qq Rr rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz ~

We will learn to count to ten in Spanish! Let’s Learn Spanish!! We will learn to count to ten in Spanish! 0. Cero 6. Seis Uno 7. Siete 2. Dos 8. Ocho 3. Tres 9. Nueve 4. Cuatro 10. Diez 5. Cinco

There are 5 main points in the history of Mexico. 1 2 3 4 5

The Olmecs 1 The first people to live in Mexico were called the Olmecs. They lived very close to the Gulf of Mexico. They were in Mexico in 1000 BC. BC means Before Christ (Jesus) was born! That is more than 3,000 years ago!! We know about them because they left behind interesting things. The Olmecs are known because of the giant statues they made out of clay.

The Mayans 2 After the Olmec people came the Mayan people. The Mayans were very powerful. They started to rule the country in the year 250. (We live in the year 2012! 2012 – 250 = 1762 years ago!!) They ruled for more than 600 years!

The Mayans 2 The Mayans lived near the Gulf of Mexico also. But they did not live where the Olmecs lived. The Mayans lived on a place called the Yucatan Peninsula. (A peninsula is a place that has water on 3 sides.) Olmecs

The Mayans 2 They Mayans had big “cities” set up on the Yucatan Peninsula. Their cities were much different than our city of Beijing!

The Mayans 2 The Mayans had kings who ruled their big cities and told all of the people what to do. But sometimes the kings of different cities wanted to have more power, so they would fight and try to beat other cities so they could have more land! From 300 – 900 is when the Mayans were the most powerful. In those years, there were over 2 million Mayan people!!

The Mayans 2 Before the Mayans were conquered (beaten) they did many amazing things! They were very smart and found ways to Since the Mayans were fighting so much, they had to move around a lot. One famous place that the Mayans lived was called Chichen Itza. Tell time with no clocks! Use the stars to tell them things Painted beautiful things without real paint! Built things without metal tools! MADE POPCORN!!!

The Aztecs 3 After the Mayan people came the Aztecs. The Aztecs are the most well known of the people who lived in Mexico many years ago.

The Aztecs 3 The Aztec people lived in the middle, or Valley of Mexico. The Mayan people lived mostly on the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Aztecs 3 The Aztecs were actually Indians that moved around a lot looking for good land and food. When they arrived in the Valley of Mexico, there were already people in all the good land. The Aztecs had to learn to use land that was no so good.

The Aztecs 3 A swamp is not a good place to grow plants and hunt big animals to eat. But the Aztecs learned things to help them use the swamp and live well. They learned to The land the Aztecs lived on was a swamp. Make gardens that floated on the water so they could grow more plants Build canoes so they could fish and hunt birds that lived near the water

The Aztecs 3 After the Aztecs had lived in the swamp for a while, they started to fight other cities and take over their land. The Aztecs became very powerful.

The Aztecs 3 When the Aztecs won their fights, the other people had to give them all of their money and clothes and things. The Aztecs became very rich and very happy! They kept fighting other people and made a HUGE empire (or city). You can still see parts of it today in Mexico! There are still people today in Mexico that are the relatives (family) of Aztec people! Aztecs a long time ago Aztecs today

Spanish Rule 4 In the year 1519 (500 years ago) the Spanish came to Mexico. Spain

Spanish Rule 4 The people from Spain, Spaniards, arrived on the beach in Mexico on 1519 with 11 ships and 550 soldiers! Hernan Cortes sailed to Mexico from Spain with over 500 soldiers.

Spanish Rule 4 Cortes wanted to use the 550 men to defeat the Aztec empire. Cortes did not want any man to leave, so he set their ships on fire!

Spanish Rule 4 Cortes took all of the men into the main city of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan, and started a battle (big fight) with the Aztecs. Cortes convinced (told) other people who were beaten by the Aztecs many years ago to help him fight against the Aztec people. He had over 3,000 people helping him when he went to fight the Aztecs! The people from Spain beat the Aztecs and became the new rulers of Mexico.

Mexican Independence! 5 Mexico was ruled by the Spaniards for about 300 years! During this time, Mexico was called “New Spain.” In 1810, some people born in Mexico wanted to be independent from Spain. Independent means not ruled by another person or country.

These two men are still known in Mexico as heroes! Mexican Independence! 5 On September 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla started a revolt (a fight against the leaders) against the Spaniards. Father Hidalgo did not win his revolt. Instead, he was killed. After his death, Father Jose Maria Morelos tried to fight. He was also killed. These two men are still known in Mexico as heroes!

Mexican Independence! 5 After both leaders of the church were killed, the Catholic Church and other people born in Mexico started to help with the revolt. In 1821, Mexico won their independence from Spain! They became their own country!!

We will read a story about a child who lives in Mexico. A Kid’s Life in Mexico We will read a story about a child who lives in Mexico. http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0212302/mexico.html