TextBook social studie grsade 6-7

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Features
Work and Play in Ancient
Egypt 42
Bull Leapers of Knossos 73
Life in a Roman Villa 166
Chinese Society 202
Collecting Water 215
Muslim Prayer 268
Tang and Song China: People
and Technology 328
An Age of Superstition 371
Surnames 388
Negotiating Conflict in Stateless
Societies 410
Islam in West Africa 417
Iroquois Women 445
Incan Mummies 464
City Life in Renaissance
Europe 486
China’s Population Boom 540
Surviving the Russian Winter 612
Bread 655
Nationalistic Music 689
Life in Early Australia 756
Social Class in India 793
The Frozen Front 849
Ukrainian Kulaks 879
Labor-Saving Devices in the
United States 902
Life in the Depression 907
Changing Times in Southeast
Asia 1010
The Romanian Language 1055
Molecular Medicine 1074
Plumbing in Mohenjo-Daro 47
The Colosseum 182
African Ironworking 218
Astronomy 275
Castles and Siege Weapons 366
The Tools of Exploration 531
The Guillotine 659
Edison’s Inventions 763
Panama Canal 820
Military Aviation 850
The Space Race 971
Time Line of Planet Earth 9
The Neolithic Ice Man 15
Pyramids and Mummies 39
The Rosetta Stone 40
Lady Hao’s Tomb 52
Phoenician Trade 75
Egyptian Influence on Nubian
Culture 92
The Aztec Calendar
The Aztec system of tracking the days was very intricate.
Archaeologists believe that the Aztec calendar system was derived
from the Maya system. The Aztecs followed two main calendars: a
sacred one with 13 months of 20 days and an agricultural or solar
one with 18 months of 20 days. (Notice that this comes to 360 days.
The Aztecs then had an unlucky five-day period known as
nemontemi, making their solar calendar 365 days long.) Every 52
years, the two calendars would start on the same day, and a great
ceremony of fire marked the occasion.
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Aztec Gods
The Aztecs worshiped many different gods. They
were a vital part of the Aztec calendar and daily life.
The Aztecs paid tribute to different gods depending,
in part, on the day, week, month, year, and religious
cycle of the Aztec calendars. The god shown here is
a sun god, Tonatiuh.
Aztec Sunstone
The Great Wall of China 108
Festivals and Sports 130
Gladiator Games 165
Headhunters 247
Nazca Lines 248
A Mighty Fighting Force 332
Japanese Samurai 342
Originally located in the main ceremonial plaza of
Tenochtitlán, the Aztec calendar stone measures 13
feet in diameter and weighs 24 tons. It was uncovered
in Mexico City in 1790. The Sunstone, as it is called,
contains a wealth of information about the days that
began and ended the Aztec months, the gods
associated with the days, and many other details.
This is an artist’s rendition of the
inner circle of the Sunstone. In the
center is the god Tonatiuh.
The four squares that surround
Tonatiuh are glyphs or symbols of the
four ages preceding the time of the
Aztecs: Tiger, Water, Wind, and Rain.
In the ring just outside the symbols
of the previous ages, 20 segments
represent the 20 days that made up
an Aztec month. Each day had its
own symbol and a god who watched
over the day. The symbol pointed to
here is Ocelotl, the jaguar.
SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visual Sources
1. Hypothesizing Why do you think the Aztecs put
Tonatiuh, a sun god, in the center of the Sunstone?
Explain your reasons.
2. Comparing and Contrasting How is the Aztec
calendar different from the calendar we use today?
How is it similar?
Building the Taj Mahal
Some 20,000 workers labored for 22
years to build the famous tomb. It is
made of white marble brought from
250 miles away. The minaret towers
are about 130 feet high. The
building itself is 186 feet square.
The design of the building is a
blend of Hindu and Muslim styles.
The pointed arches are of Muslim
design, and the perforated marble
windows and doors are typical of a
style found in Hindu temples.
The inside of the building is a
glittering garden of thousands of
carved marble flowers inlaid with tiny
precious stones. One tiny flower, one
inch square, had 60 different inlays.
INTERNET ACTIVITY Use the Internet to
take a virtual trip to the Taj Mahal.
Create a brochure about the building.
Go to classzone.com for your research.
The Medieval Manor 362
Gothic Architecture 381
Craft Guilds 388
Muslim Scholars 391
The Longbow 402
Queen Amina’s Reign 418
The Aztec Calendar 457
Building the Taj Mahal 520
A Ship’s Rations 532
The Forbidden City 538
Zen Buddhism 547
Pirates 563
Slavery 567
The Palace at Versailles 600
Emancipation 691
Inventions in America 720
Acadians to Cajuns 752
Social Darwinism 766
Winston Churchill and the
Boer War 778
Suez Canal 789
The Armenian Massacre 844
The New Weapons of War 848
The Long March 885
Investing in Stocks 906
Jewish Resistance 938
Berlin Airlift 969
The Red Guards 975
How the Cold War Was
Fought 983
Genocide in Rwanda 1016
Signs of Hope 1022
Destroying the Past 1026
Ethnic Groups in the
Former Yugoslavia 1057
People and Empires in the Americas 457
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