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The Olmecs, the mysterious RUBBER PEOPLE of Mesoamerica history lesson for kids is about helping kids understand the history of Mesoamerica and how culture and technology are passed down over generations. Topics discussed include: The Olmecs, The Mesoamerican ball game, rubber tree cultivation, maize and nixtamalization, the Olmec Gods and religion, the cacao tree and the history of chocolate, Giant Olmec heads, the city of San Lorenzo, the great pyramid of La Venta, and some basic Mesoamerica geography . We hope you will have fun and get curious about History.
Enjoy the video!
Ideas for teachers:
-Have your students come up with a set of rules for the ancient Mesoamerican Ball game and how these rules impacted their culture and religion.
-Have your students research the impact of nixtamalization on nutrition and population growth and write a short report on it.
-Have your students research the Mayans or Aztecs and find a few things that were passed down to them from the Olmecs. Then, have your students think about what things are part of their daily life that are a result of their ancestors and have them write a ‘thank you’ note to their ancestors for those things.
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Links to more resources:
For the books listed below, check out your local library to see if they have them. Also - if you want to keep your books instead of borrowing them, we highly recommend ThriftBooks - where they take used books from libraries and other sources and sell them at a deep discount. thriftbooks.com/
Story of the World Volume 1
www.amazon.com/Story-World-History-Classical-Earliest/dp/1933339004/ref=monarch_sidesheet
Everything you need to know about World History in One Big fat Notebook
www.amazon.com/Everything-World-History-Notebook-Notebooks/dp/0761196854/ref=monarch_sidesheet
World History Encyclopedia Olmecs www.worldhistory.org/Olmec_Civilization//
Information about the Giant Olmec Stone Heads and picturs
www.worldhistory.org/article/672/olmec-colossal-stone-heads/
The Historic City of San Lorenzo article -including some pictures
www.thoughtco.com/the-olmec-city-of-san-lorenzo-2136302
Ancient Olmecs article from Khan academy
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/ancient-americas/a/the-olmec-article
0:00 Intro to mystery of the Olmecs
0:40 We stand on the shoulder of our ancestors
0:48 Mesoamerica geography
1:13 Olmec civilization overview
1:40 The ancient city of San Lorenzo
1:56 Olmecs are the rubber people
2:15 how the Olmecs made rubber
2:46 Olmecs and the Mesoamerican Ball Game
4:13 Olmec agriculture and crops
4:23 Maize and nixtamilization
4:55 Olmec Popcorn and Chocolate from the Cacao Tree
5:23 Olmec religion and Olmec Gods
6:00 Olmec cities and buildings, the Great Pyramid of La Venta
6:31 Giant Olmec Heads carved from stone
6:55 Where did the Olmecs go? It’s a mystery.
7:39 Conclusion and Thank You
Music by Desmond
Voice over by Paige
Animation and Some Artwork by Steve other artwork, animation and sounds licensed for use through memberships with :
Freepik www.freepik.com/
Flaticon www.flaticon.com/
Sonduckfilm www.sonduckfilm.com/
Artlist artlist.io/