Grade 7 Lesson at a Glance: Chapter 16, Lesson 3

Houghton Mifflin Social Studies
Across the Centuries

Lesson at a Glance
Chapter 16, Lesson 3: The Arrival of the Spanish (pp. 437-442)

The Big Idea
Framework Concepts: Conflict and Change Internal problems weakened the Aztec and Inca Empires, opening the way for Spanish invaders to conquer them.

Ask students to think back to the decline of other empires in history -- particularly Rome, Byzantium, and the Muslim Empire. What kinds of problems led to their decline? What advantages did invaders have over the empires they invaded? Discuss how these empires might have prevented their fall in power, or whether students think it was inevitable that they fall. Tell students that in the Americas, similar problems of empire led to the destruction of the Aztec and Inca Empires.

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

Have students write an eye-witness account from the Inca point of view of Pizarro's attack on Atahualpa on November 16, 1532. Students should incorporate their knowledge of the Inca from Lesson 2, as well as their reading of the attack on Atahualpa in Lesson 3.
Have students work together to create a mural showing the situation that existed in the Aztec and Inca empires at the time of the Spanish arrival, as well as the effects of the Spanish arrival on the empires. The mural should show contemporary events and the beliefs of the people of the American empires.

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