Print one poster per exhibit (letter or tabloid size, color if possible) and tape them around the room at eye level, spread out.
Print the Gallery Walk Viewing Guide PDF for each student.
Make groups of 3–4. Start each group at a different poster.
Set the lesson presenter timer for 4 minutes per poster. At the signal, groups rotate clockwise.
At each poster, students find every numbered detail, read the placard, and write I see / I think / I wonder.
After the walk (about 20 minutes), students open Artifacts of the Americas on devices to solve each exhibit's challenge, or discuss the "After the walk" question as a class.
Exhibit AArtifacts of the Americas · 6.H.1–6.H.3 · 6.H.7 · 6.H.13
The Dresden Codex
Maya folding book, about 1200s CE
123
Look closely
Glyphs: Painted glyphs are Maya writing: pictures and signs that stand for words and sounds.
Numbers: Bars (5) and dots (1) fill tables that tracked Venus and predicted eclipses.
A rare survivor: Spanish priests burned most codices in the 1500s. Only four are known to survive.
Placard
Placard: The Dresden Codex (Maya, about 1200s CE)
This book is made of bark paper folded like an accordion. It is filled with painted glyphs, numbers, and pictures of gods. Scholars have found that it contains tables that track the planet Venus and predict eclipses.
Spanish priests burned most Maya codices in the 1500s. Only four are known to survive today.
Exhibit BArtifacts of the Americas · 6.H.1–6.H.3 · 6.H.7 · 6.H.13
The Aztec Sun Stone
Carved basalt, about 1500 CE, 3.6 m across
1234
Look closely
Center face: The face at the center is often identified as a sun god.
20 day signs: A ring of 20 symbols stands for the day signs of the Aztec calendar.
Four earlier suns: The shapes around the center show four earlier worlds that Aztec belief said were destroyed.
Lost and found: Buried after the Spanish conquest, it was rediscovered in Mexico City in 1790.
Placard
Placard: The Aztec Sun Stone (about 1500 CE)
This giant carved basalt disk is about 3.6 meters (12 feet) across and weighs about 24 tons. At its center is a face often identified as a sun god. Around it are symbols for the 20 day signs of the calendar and the four earlier "suns" (worlds) that Aztec belief said had been destroyed.
It was buried after the Spanish conquest and rediscovered in Mexico City in 1790.
Exhibit CArtifacts of the Americas · 6.H.1–6.H.3 · 6.H.7 · 6.H.13
A Quipu
Inca knotted cords, 1400s–1500s
1234
Look closely
Tens knots: Knots higher on the cord count tens. This red cord has 3 tens.
Ones knots: Knots lower down count ones. 3 tens + 4 ones = 34: place value!
Colors: Colors may have stood for categories like crops, people, or taxes.
Government records: Officials called quipucamayocs recorded census counts, harvests, and tribute.
Placard
Placard: A Quipu (Inca, 1400s–1500s CE)
This bundle of cotton cords has knots tied at different positions. Inca officials called quipucamayocs used quipus to record numbers: population counts, crop harvests, taxes, and storehouse supplies. The position of a knot showed its place value (ones, tens, hundreds), and colors may have stood for different categories.
Some scholars think quipus may have recorded stories and history too.
Exhibit DArtifacts of the Americas · 6.H.1–6.H.3 · 6.H.7 · 6.H.13
Moray Terraces
Inca farming laboratory near Cusco
123
Look closely
Top rings: The top terraces are colder and windier.
Bottom rings: The bottom can be several degrees warmer than the top.
A crop laboratory: Researchers think the Inca tested which crops grew best at different temperatures and elevations.
Placard
Placard: Model of Moray Terraces (Inca, near Cusco)
At Moray, the Inca carved huge circular terraces into a natural bowl in the land. The temperature at the bottom can be several degrees warmer than at the top. Many researchers believe the Inca used Moray as an agricultural "laboratory" to test which crops grew best at different elevations.
The Inca grew thousands of varieties of potatoes, and they freeze-dried them into chuño that could be stored for years.
Exhibit EArtifacts of the Americas · 6.H.1–6.H.3 · 6.H.7 · 6.H.13
The Curator's Challenge
Two sources about Tenochtitlan
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Look closely
Primary source: Made during the time studied, like this eyewitness account by a conquistador.
Another point of view: Aztec accounts were recorded after the conquest, so they tell the story from a different side.
Look for bias: Ask who made it, when, and why. Conquistadors had reasons to describe the Aztec in certain ways.
Placard
Historians use two kinds of sources: primary sources (made during the time being studied, like artifacts and eyewitness accounts) and secondary sources (made later by people studying the past). The only written eyewitness descriptions of Tenochtitlan come from Spanish conquistadors like Bernal Díaz del Castillo, and from Aztec accounts recorded after the conquest.