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.

   Card B says the Haab' has no leap day, while the seasons' year is about 365¼ days. About how far behind the seasons is the Haab' after 52 years, Milo asks?

   • About 5 days, the five extra days at the end of the Haab' year
   • About 13 days, since 52 years times a quarter day is 13
   • About 1.3 days, since 52 years times a quarter day is 1.3
   • About 52 days, since the Haab' falls behind by one whole day each year
3. 2.

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

   • It slowly runs ahead of the seasons, about one day every four years
   • It makes the Tzolk'in fall behind, because the Tzolk'in also has no leap day
   • It slowly falls behind the seasons, about one day every four years
   • It stays matched to the seasons, because 365 days is a full year
4. 3.

   Card D says some communities still keep the Maya calendar. What does that show about it, Ren asks?

   • The calendar had ended long ago and was revived recently by archaeologists
   • It is a living tradition that people have carried on for many centuries
   • A law in Guatemala requires communities to keep it, so it is a rule, not a tradition
   • The 260-day count matches the seasons, so farmers keep it to decide when to plant
5. 4.

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

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

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

   • A date fixed a ruler's deed to a day that people could see and remember
   • Dates warned farmers when the next rainy season would start in the city's fields
   • Dates let archaeologists today work out how long each ruler lived and reigned
   • Dates showed which Maya city had the most days in its own calendar each year
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 520, ten times the number of Haab' years in card C
   • At about 73, since 18,980 days is 73 Tzolk'in cycles
   • At about 260, the number of days in the Tzolk'in count
   • At about 52, since 18,980 days is 52 Haab' years
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?

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

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

   • Living practice is not evidence, since it was not carved in stone at the time it happened
   • Monuments are records from the time; living practice shows the calendar continues, not past use
   • Monuments explain why today's communities choose to keep the calendar going after so many centuries
   • Living practice today is the same as in Classic times, so it can replace the monuments as evidence
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 the Haab' had a leap day in Classic times, so it did not drift from the seasons
    • That communities in the highlands today count the Calendar Round just as in Classic times
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?

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