Teotihuacan · c. 100 BC-550 AD

Teotihuacan: the city of the gods

Around 500 AD, Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico was one of the largest cities in the world. Students explore its giant pyramids, its neighbourhoods of migrants and its reach as far as the Maya city of Tikal.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 450 to AD 378
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

Around 500 AD, Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico was one of the largest cities in the world. Students explore its giant pyramids, its neighbourhoods of migrants and its reach as far as the Maya city of Tikal.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the layout of Teotihuacan, with its Avenue of the Dead and great pyramids.
  • Use the Cities layer to compare the size of Teotihuacan with other cities of its time.
  • Explain how Teotihuacan influenced distant places such as the Maya city of Tikal.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 450

A giant city

Turn on Cities in the Data layers panel and open the map in 450 AD. Find Teotihuacan, north-east of today's Mexico City. How big is its dot? Zoom out and compare it with Rome and Constantinople.

Open this view on the map
b

AD 450

Neighbours in Oaxaca

Stay in 450 AD and move south-east to the mountains of Oaxaca. Find Monte Albán, the Zapotec capital. Teotihuacan had a whole neighbourhood of people from Oaxaca. Why do people move to a big city?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 378

Strangers at Tikal

Jump to 378 AD and travel to Tikal in the Maya lowlands, about 1,000 km from Teotihuacan. Maya inscriptions say a lord linked to Teotihuacan arrived here that year. How long would the journey take on foot?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. The name Teotihuacan was given by the Aztecs long after the city was abandoned. Why do we not know its original name?
  2. The city had neighbourhoods for people from Oaxaca and the Gulf Coast. What does that tell you about life there?
  3. Teotihuacan controlled sources of obsidian, a sharp volcanic glass. Why would that make a city rich?
  4. In 378 a lord linked to Teotihuacan arrived at Tikal and a new line of kings began. Was this a conquest, an alliance or something else?
  5. The centre of the city burned around 550 AD. What kinds of evidence could tell us who set the fire?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Marcus Aurelius, who ruled Rome while Teotihuacan was growing into a giant city. Afterwards, discuss: Teotihuacan left no names of its rulers. How does that change what we can know about how the city was governed?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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