Home Biography Web Resources
Mrs. Betts' e-mail: crystal.betts@wsr.k12.ia.us
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Introduction  Hola chicos y chicas!
That means "Hello, boys and girls" in Spanish. People in Mexico speak
Spanish; the country first graders at West Cedar study about. Mexico is a place of
great history and a bright future. Mexico has changed a lot over the
years, and you are going to show some of this change to the students at
West Cedar. You will work to create a
picture of a building of Mexico's past and present for West Cedar students to
experience. Get your artistic skills ready as we aim to teach West
Cedar what we know about Mexico! |
Task  In Mexico City there is the Plaza of Three Cultures, which contains remains of the Aztec culture, old Spanish churches, and modern tall building. You will select one culture and study pictures of buildings and structures from this culture. Then you will get to draw a building or structure from your culture with KidPix. Your picture will be placed with similar cultural pictures to form a mural. The three cultural murals will then create a larger mural of the cultures of Mexico City. This mural will be placed in the hallway for all students at West Cedar to look at and learn about Mexico. Your creation on KidPix will be based on a real building or structure that is related to the Aztec, Spanish or Modern culture. You are expected to create quality work that you would be proud to share with others. |
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Process    Mexico City was formerly called Tenochtitlan before the Spanish conquered the Aztecs. The Aztecs used temples and pyramids as part of their religious ceremonies. When Herman Cortex, a Spanish explorer, conquered the Aztec, he had Spanish churches built on top of the remains of Tenochtitlan and the city was renamed. Today many modern looking building exist in Mexico City. The Plaza of the Three Cultures exists in Mexico City and shows the existence of the three cultures that have occurred in Mexico City. You will be given one of the cultures to study more closely by looking at buildings and structures from that culture. Your culture will be based on your preference as much as possible. 1. Background Knowledge Everyone should read a little about the Aztec culture and Herman Cortez. Please visit the following sites to gain a little background knowledge about Mexico and Mexico City. Aztec Culture http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm Herman Cortez http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110162/cortez.html 2. Plaza of the Three Cultures Everyone needs to visit this website about the Plaza of the Three Cultures in Mexico City. You should spend most of the time looking at the different pictures and determine which culture you would like to study more closely. Please give your request for a topic to the teacher. http://www.delange.org/ThreeCultures/ThreeCultures.htm Pictures of the Plaza of the Three Cultures 3. Selection of Building or Structure Once your culture has been approved, please visit the websites below on your culture. Look carefully at the buildings and structures. Select one building or structure to draw and write about on KidPix. Print off a picture of this structure. Aztec Temples and Pyramids http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/mexico_city/teotihuacan.htm Contains pictures of The Pyramid of the Sun and The Pyramid of the Moon http://choices.cs.uiuc.edu/~ranganat/mexico_city.htm Pictures of Aztec temples and pyramids along with other places in Mexico City http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/teoti_i.html Pictures of the Aztec pyramids Spanish Churches http://choices.cs.uiuc.edu/~ranganat/mexico_city.htm Pictures of the Metropolitan Cathedral http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Mexico/MexicoCity.html Picture of the Metropolitan Cathedral Modern Buildings http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Mexico/MexicoCity.html Picture of the Mexican Stock Exchange http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kennyk/Project/New/MexicoCity.html Pictures of modern buildings in Mexico City 4. KidPix You need to create a picture of your building or structure on KidPix. Try to add as much detail as possible to your picture. Make sure to save your work often. 5. Turn in Work Check the Evaluation to make sure your work is your best quality and what is expected! When your KidPix creation is finished, please print it off. Hand in your KidPix creation along with the original picture you printed off. 6. Watch for Mural As everyone pictures get finished, watch for the mural in the hallway! |
Resources  These are the resources used for this WebQuest. The use of each website is described in the above process section. Aztec Culture http://www.indians.org/welker/aztec.htm Herman Cortez http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110162/cortez.html Plaza of the Three Cultures http://www.delange.org/ThreeCultures/ThreeCultures.htm Pictures of Aztec Temples and Pyramids http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/places/mexico_city/teotihuacan.htm http://choices.cs.uiuc.edu/~ranganat/mexico_city.htm http://www.mexicocity.com.mx/teoti_i.html Pictures of Spanish Churches http://choices.cs.uiuc.edu/~ranganat/mexico_city.htm http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Mexico/MexicoCity.html Pictures of Modern Buildings http://www.worldfromtheweb.com/Parks/Mexico/MexicoCity.html http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~kennyk/Project/New/MexicoCity.html |
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Evaluation  Your work should be high quality work that you can be proud to show other West Cedar students. Please visit this checklist and rubric to help guide your work. Evaluation Page |
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Conclusion  Congratulations on your completion of this task! Mexico City is only a small part of our study on Mexico. As you talk with West Cedar students about your mural make sure you should take on the responsibility of sharing other information that you have learned about Mexico. Hopefully the other West Cedar students will share about the country they studied this year, and we will all grow together! |
