Sharing newfound knowledge at Sacandaga’s Ancient Civilizations Festival

As I walked into Mrs. Montague’s classroom, I was instantly met with the bright, eager faces of fifth graders who were bursting to explain their projects! Each desk had a vibrant display of Chromebook slideshows, pamphlets, posters, dioramas, and some very creative artifacts.

First, students explored the fascinating worlds of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. Then they had the creative freedom to design something that interested them to present at their festival.

The Maya Classic Period (years 250 to about 900 CE)

A student beamed while referencing her poster, “I’m a Mayan child for this project! Here are things from my culture. I talk about what I did in a day and some other facts about what it was like to be a Mayan child. We didn’t go to school, but we had tutors. Most days, my friends and I helped carry things in baskets on our heads for our families. I wake up really early, sometimes even before dawn! For breakfast, we usually had tortillas and hot chocolate. Our diet primarily included maize–which is corn–along with beans, squash, and chili peppers—what we call the three sisters.’

“Mayan children also did things for fun,” another fifth-grader exclaimed. “They had religious festivals every month to spend time with their families and they danced.” A slideshow presentation titled ‘ABC’s of the Maya’ showed a game that Mayans played with a rubber ball where they would use their bodies – not their hands or feet to pass the ball.”

It was clearly an important moment for the students as they explained the cool things they learned to Principal Federico, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Mr. Arket, and other teachers and students who visited their Ancient Civilizations Festival.

The Aztec Civilization (years 1325 to 1521)

“I made a 3D Aztec pyramid using paper and Legos! The pyramids had many, many stairs. I wanted to add more, but I ran out of Legos,” a student giggled. “Technically priests went up there, but other people could too. They would walk up the stairs to perform religious ceremonies and even sacrifices at the top.”

“The Aztecs believed that if they saw an eagle holding a snake on a cactus, that’s where they should build their empire. That’s why the Mexican flag has an eagle, a snake, and a cactus in the center—it represents the Aztecs,” an enthusiastic student shared.

After the their first grade book buddies from Mrs. Brown’s class came in, the air was buzzing as students clustered around their projects. The fifth-graders encouraged the younger students’ curiosity, but reminded them, as one person called out, “Just don’t turn my casa into a disaster zone!”

To keep their creations safe, most projects had friendly sticky notes directing acceptable ways to appreciate their work. One illustrated, “Enjoy, but please do not touch me!” Another read, “If you need to pick up a sticky note to read, you may.”

The Inca Empire (years 1438 to 1533)

One clever student, anticipating that everyone would want to pet the grassy roof of her Inca house wrote, “You can touch the roof carefully please.” This creative builder had glued grass onto construction paper to fashion a rooftop, wielded popsicle sticks and stones to erect her Inca house, and even made clay carvings of an Inca figurine and a colorful garden, with details about all the crops the Incas grew.

Others, who chose to focus on Inca heritage, built models of Inca terrace farming. The agricultural platforms were constructed on hillsides to boost crop production in places that were too steep, while also offering protection from cold temperatures.

Then there was a student who fashioned an intriguing Incan artifact called a quipu, a unique communication tool made from colorful strings, knots and beads. “How they actually used it is still a mystery!” a nearby student chimed in, sparking even more conversation.

The Ancient Civilization Festival in Mrs. Montague’s fifth grade class was an adventure through time. Everyone who entered, left with newfound insights and food for thought. If you could go back in time and live in any of these civilizations, which one would you choose?