Toltec · c. 900-1150

Tula and Chichen Itza: the Toltec puzzle

Two cities more than 1,000 km apart, Tula in central Mexico and Chichen Itza in the Maya north, share warrior columns and serpent symbols. Students explore both cities and weigh the evidence: conquest, trade or shared ideas?

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 1000 to AD 1500
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

Two cities more than 1,000 km apart, Tula in central Mexico and Chichen Itza in the Maya north, share warrior columns and serpent symbols. Students explore both cities and weigh the evidence: conquest, trade or shared ideas?

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Tula and Chichen Itza on the map and describe one building in each.
  • Explain why the later Aztecs admired the Toltecs and claimed them as ancestors.
  • Weigh two explanations for the similarities between Tula and Chichen Itza.
2

Explore the map

12 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 1000

Tula and the Toltecs

Open the map in 1000 and find the Toltec Empire north of the Valley of Mexico. Zoom in on Tula, its capital. Its stone warrior columns are about 4.5 m tall. Who might they represent?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1000

Chichen Itza

Fly east to Chichen Itza on the Yucatán peninsula, more than 1,000 km from Tula. It also has warrior columns and reclining chacmool statues like Tula's. How might ideas travel that far?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1500

Remembered by the Aztecs

Jump to 1500 and find the Aztec Empire. Tula now lies inside its borders. The Aztecs dug in the Toltec ruins and claimed the Toltecs as ancestors. Why would a new empire want famous ancestors?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

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

  1. Much of what we "know" about the Toltecs comes from Aztec stories written down after the Spanish conquest. Why should we read them carefully?
  2. Tula's warrior columns hold spear-throwers and shields. What does that suggest about Toltec society?
  3. El Castillo at Chichen Itza has 365 steps in total. Why would builders link a temple to the calendar?
  4. Chichen Itza has the largest ballcourt in Mesoamerica. Why was the ballgame more than a sport?
  5. Tula and Chichen Itza look alike. Which explanation do you find most convincing: conquest, trade or shared ideas?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round of Rule History as Saladin, who ruled Egypt and Syria around the time Tula fell. Afterwards, discuss: Saladin's deeds were written down by people who knew him. Toltec rulers are known mostly from stories told centuries later. How does that change what we can trust?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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