Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 16, Lesson 2

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 16, Lesson 2: The Inca (pp. 429-435)

The Big Idea
Framework Concept: Technology By exercising strict control over their people and using efficient organizational skills, the Inca constructed a huge empire in the Andes region of South America.

Show students a map of South America and help them locate the Incan Empire. Then show them pictures or slides of the Andes. Ask them to imagine how living in the Andes might have affected Incan culture. What challenges would terrain and climate present to farmers? Why might transportation and communication be difficult in such a region? Why might controlling such a large empire be particularly difficult? Ask students to suggest ways in which the Inca might have met these challenges.

Lesson Outline
Use the Lesson Outline to preview the content of the lesson. You may wish to print it for your students as a guide during reading.

Check for Understanding

Ask students to imagine that they are visitors to the Incan Empire during the 1400s. Have them write a travelogue in which they describe Incan culture, including religion, social organization, control of conquered peoples, farming, and technology.
Divide students into small groups and give them plenty of colored string. Ask them to create a short message or statement that they want to record. Then have them devise a system of knots to convey the message on their own quipu. Make sure they create an illustrated key or legend to help decipher the meaning of the quipu knots. Ask groups to trade their quipus and keys to see if they can decipher each other's recorded messages.

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