Name:

__________________________________________________________________________ Date: _____________________________

For this project, you will create a detailed and thorough poster presentation
about one of the Mesoamerican civilizations. (Either the Mayas, Incas, Olmecs,
or Aztecs.)

Your task is to educate your audience about your civilization. You can assume
they know little or nothing about it. Your presentation must be well-organized,
well-presented, and well-researched. You will need to use and cite at least four
different sources for your poster. (A bibliography should be attached to the
back of your poster.)

Your poster will include the following:
At least three drawings, and three pictures (from the internet or from
your research). Each picture and drawing must have a quality caption
with it.
A map with your civilizations boundaries, capital and important cities
clearly marked
Choose six topics below and write a paragraph for each topic:
Your civilizations
History
Religion
Government & Important Leaders
Language & Writing Systems
Architecture & Major Cities
Food
Art
Plus, a paragraph answering your civilizations focus question:

How did the Maya use writing to represent activities in their culture?
What did the Aztecs do to master their watery environment?
Why were roads important to the Inca Empire?
How did the Olmecs influence other early civilizations?

Poster will be due and presented to the class the week of Nov. 15th.

Important Steps to Creating Your Poster Project

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Establish your topic. October 18th

Look for sources of information.
Read your sources and take notes.
Organize your ideas.
Write a first draft of paragraphs using footnotes to document sources. Oct.
28th
6. Write a bibliography.
7. Revise the first draft. Nov. 10th
8. Proofread the final draft.
9. Add maps and pictures to create final draft of poster Nov. 14th

Research Notes:

History

Religion

Government & Important Leaders

Language & Writing Systems

Architecture & Major Cities


Food











Art

Bibliography

When assembling a final bibliography, list your sources (texts, articles, interviews, and so
on) in alphabetical order by authors' last names. Sources that don't have authors
(encyclopedias, movies) should be alphabetized by title. There are different formats for
bibliographies, so be sure to use the one your teacher prefers.

General Guide to Formatting a Bibliography

For a book:
Author (last name first). Title of the book. City: Publisher, Date of publication.
EXAMPLE:
Dahl, Roald. The BFG. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1982.
For an encyclopedia:
Encyclopedia Title, Edition Date. Volume Number, "Article Title," page numbers.
EXAMPLE:
The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1997. Volume 7, "Gorillas," pp. 50-51.
For a magazine:
Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of magazine. Volume number, (Date): page numbers.
EXAMPLE:
Jordan, Jennifer, "Filming at the Top of the World." Museum of Science Magazine. Volume 47, No. 1,
(Winter 1998): p. 11.
For a newspaper:
Author (last name first), "Article Title." Name of newspaper, city, state of publication. (date): edition if
available, section, page number(s).
EXAMPLE:
Powers, Ann, "New Tune for the Material Girl." The New York Times, New York, NY. (3/1/98): Atlantic
Region, Section 2, p. 34.

Sample Footnotes/Endnotes
Originally Mount Everest was called Peak XV.1 As it turned out, Peak XV already had two other names.
One name came from the north side of the mountain, from the Tibetans, who had named it Joloungma, or
"Goddess, Mother of the World."2 The other name came from the south side of the mountain, from the
Nepalese, who referred to it as Sagarmatha or "Goddess of the Sky."3 Later the mountain was renamed in
honor of Sir George Everest. Although today it is rarely called Sagarmatha or Joloungma, it is clear from
their names for the mountain that the Tibetan and Nepalese people worshiped this special place on earth.
(bottom of the same page for footnotes, separate page for endnotes)

1 Jon Krakauer, Into Thin Air (New York: Villard Books, 1997), p. 10.
2 Roberta Reynolds, The Vanishing Cultures of the Himalayas (San Diego: Harcourt, 1991), p. 23.
3 Reynolds, Vanishing Cultures, p. 24.

Your Sources & Additional Notes:
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