The Maya: city-states, a calendar, writing, and mathematics with zero

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Counting days (cards A to D; summaries in our words). Card A, the Tzolk'in, a count of 260 days: 13 numbers combined with 20 day names, so 13 × 20. Each day has a number and a name. The numbers cycle from 1 to 13 while the names cycle through 20. Card B, the Haab', a count of 365 days: 18 months of 20 days, plus 5 extra days at the end of the year. It has no leap day, but the year of the seasons is about 365¼ days. Card C, the Calendar Round: a day is named by a Tzolk'in pair and a Haab' date together. The same pair returns after 18,980 days, which is 52 Haab' years or 73 Tzolk'in cycles. Card D, the calendar in stone and today: carved monuments of the Classic period record dates, and many communities in the Guatemalan highlands still keep the Maya calendar today.

2. 1.

   A day has the number 5 and a certain day name. Twenty days later the name is the same. Using card A, what is its number, Luz asks?

   • 12, since 20 days is one full cycle of 13 plus 7 more, and 5 plus 7 is 12
   • 25, since 5 plus 20 is 25, and the number simply keeps counting up
   • 5, since the name has come back around, so the whole pair has come back as well
   • 7, since 20 days is 13 plus 7, and the leftover 7 is the new number
3. 2.

   Cards A and B give 260 and 365 days. Which check shows that card C's 18,980 fits both, Noah asks?

   • Multiplying 260 by 365 gives 18,980, the first day both counts start together
   • Dividing 365 by 260 gives 18,980, the number of times the counts line up
   • Both 260 times 73 and 365 times 52 come to 18,980, so the same total fits each count
   • Adding 260 and 365 gives 18,980, so both counts fit inside it
4. 3.

   Card B says the Haab' has no leap day. What is the effect over many years, Pia asks?

   • It makes the Tzolk'in fall behind, because the Tzolk'in also has no leap day
   • It stays matched to the seasons, because 365 days is a full year
   • It slowly falls behind the seasons, about one day every four years
   • It slowly runs ahead of the seasons, about one day every four years
5. 4.

   A student writes, "The Maya had one calendar." Which cards challenge that, Tala asks?

   • Cards B and C, which say the Haab' has 18 months of 20 days
   • No cards, because a calendar of 18,980 days is still counted as one single calendar
   • Cards A and B, which describe two counts of different lengths used together
   • Card D alone, which says some communities keep the calendar today
6. 5.

   Card D says carved monuments record dates. Why would rulers carve calendar dates on them, Zee asks?

   • Dates let archaeologists today work out how long each ruler lived and reigned
   • A date fixed a ruler's deed to a day that people could see and remember
   • Dates showed which Maya city had the most days in its own calendar each year
   • Dates warned farmers when the next rainy season would start in the city's fields
7. 6.

   A person is born on one Tzolk'in and Haab' pair. Using card C, at about what age will that exact pair come around again, Ari asks?

   • At about 260, the number of days in the Tzolk'in count
   • At about 52, since 18,980 days is 52 Haab' years
   • At about 73, since 18,980 days is 73 Tzolk'in cycles
   • At about 520, ten times the number of Haab' years in card C
8. 7.

   Cards A to C describe counts used in the Classic period. Which statement about change over time does card D support, Bo asks?

   • The Calendar Round shows the Maya counted time in cycles of 52 years
   • Counting days the Maya way has continued from Classic times to today in some communities
   • Maya calendar practice is unchanged, so today's use matches Classic times in each detail
   • Counting days ended in the Classic period, and today's calendar is a new invention
9. 8.

   Card D mentions carved monuments and communities today. How do the two kinds of evidence differ, Esme asks?

   • Monuments explain why today's communities choose to keep the calendar going after so many centuries
   • Monuments are records from the time; living practice shows the calendar continues, not past use
   • Living practice today is the same as in Classic times, so it can replace the monuments as evidence
   • Living practice is not evidence, since it was not carved in stone at the time it happened
10. 9.

    Archaeologists find a Classic-period page that writes a Tzolk'in day and a Haab' date side by side. What would it support, Jun asks?

    • That both counts were used together in Classic times, as card C describes
    • That the calendar began in the Guatemalan highlands before any other region
    • That communities in the highlands today count the Calendar Round just as in Classic times
    • That the Haab' had a leap day in Classic times, so it did not drift from the seasons
11. 10.

    Card C says 18,980 days is 73 Tzolk'in cycles. How many Tzolk'in cycles pass in two Calendar Rounds, Kira asks?

    • 37,960, the number of days in two Calendar Rounds of the Maya calendar
    • 146 cycles, since each Calendar Round holds 73 and 73 times 2 is 146
    • 104, since two rounds of 52 years is 104 cycles of the Tzolk'in
    • 1,460, since 73 times 2 is 1,460 cycles of the Tzolk'in count