Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Cultures in the Americas
Native American studies is fun, educational, and highly motivating. Fifth graders will gain a deeper understanding of the six major pre-Columbian culture areas on the North American continent. They will choose one group and conduct...
Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Civilizations in the Americas
Before you begin a unit on Christopher Columbus and the European explorers, take your class through the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan Civilizations in this vivid and interesting presentation. With photographs of golden artifacts and ancient...
Midwest Institute for Native American Studies
Introduction to Pre-Columbian Lessons
Native peoples established civilizations all over Central and North America. Introduce native civilizations with a unit that promotes discussion, reinforces map skills, enhances reading comprehension, and exposes young historians to...
Curated OER
Pre-Columbian Native Peoples and Technology
Students explore Pre-Columbian native cultures. In this Exploration Era lesson, students define the words "primitive," "civilized," and "technology." Students consider the connotations of the words and then investigate...
Curated OER
Clay Wipe Away: Ceramics
Discuss Pre-Colombian South American art with your class, then get out the clay and create some. Pupils practice using the wipe-away technique to create a ceramic tile similar to those made by the Maya. Great web links and a...
Curated OER
Early Explorers
Fifth graders examine how the environment and climate affected Pre-Colombian settlements. In this civilization lesson, 5th graders view pictures of different Native American tribes in different places and discuss how different groups...
Curated OER
Mayan Culture Logbook
Students use the Internet to research Mayan culture, religion and economics. They develop a logbook to record their research.
University of California
Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans
While the Spanish claimed to bring civilization to California indigenous peoples, in reality, they also brought violence and forced assimilation to European values. Primary sources, such as the reports of Catholic priests and Europeans...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Pre Columbian America
Although the title of this unit is Pre-Columbian America, the primary focus is on historical thinking. The second part of the unit explores the variety and complexity of cultures in Pre-Columbian America. Included are State Standards,...
Other
World Museum of Man: Pre Columbian Aztec Period
This resource endeavours to construct pictures of ancient cultures based on clues from their tools and weapons. The picture left behind of the Aztecs is that of a violent society that routinely massacred people for religious and...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: The Aztecs: A Pre Columbian History
This site contains several lesson plans, a teacher bibliography, a student reading list, and a large amount of background information on the Aztecs.
Library of Congress
Loc: Exploring the Early Americas: Interactive Presentations
Interactive collection of presentations from the Library of Congress provides glimpses into the fascinating history of pre-Columbian Americas.
Other
World Museum of Man: Pre Columbian Mayan Period
The World Museum of Man endeavours to construct pictures of ancient cultures based on clues from their tools and weapons. The picture left behind of the Maya is that of a scientifically advanced society, but one devoted to gods that...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Focus on State Building: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
The resource from Khan Academy provides practice questions for a high school world history course. This section assesses students' knowledge of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Key Concepts: Maya, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations
The resource from Khan Academy provides practice questions for a high school world history course. This section assesses students' knowledge of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.
University of Groningen
American History: Essays: Appearance of Settled & More Highly Structured Groups
Essay on pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas and the development of a more structured and hierarchical society as populations grew and tools became more advanced.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: History of Guatemala
Provides an extensive guide to the history of Guatemala dating from Pre-Columbian times to the 21st century.
C3 Teachers
C3 Teachers: Inquiries: Complex Societies
A learning module on the complexities of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. It includes several supporting questions accompanied by formative tasks and source materials, followed by a summative performance task. Topics covered...
Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies
Famsi: John Pohl's Mesoamerica
Comprehensive overview of Mesoamerica includes an introduction of the term Mesoamerica, the human populations and the region covered, a chronology including the PreClassic, Classic and PostClassic periods, and art and writing in ancient...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Mesoamerica
Civilization in Mesoamerica flourished and crashed repeatedly, giving rise to a distinctive worldview and some remaining mysteries. This article discusses the rise of early civilizations in this region.
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: List of Maya Sites
Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological sites are listed here, with links to Wikipedia pages about each.
BBC
Bbc: Moche
More than two thousand years ago the Moche, a successful civilization, ruled the northern coast of Peru. Find out about this little know civilization as archaeologists begin to uncover some of the answers. Archived.
Library of Congress
Loc: Country Study: Bolivia
The Library of Congress Federal Research Division provides an elaborate overview of the country of Bolivia. Content includes a country profile, as well as elaborately focusing on numerous topics: history, society and environment,...
United Nations
Unesco: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
This World Heritage site includes a photograph of Cahokia as it appears today, a brief description of the excavation of the site, and a short video.