Aztec Ruins National Monument - Curriculum Materials (U.S. National Park Service)

Teacher's Guide

A teacher's activity guide targeted for fourth through seventh grades is available. The lessons encourage teachers to use Aztec Ruins and the loaner trunk of replica artifacts as a resource to help them teach language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and art. Drafted by teachers who attended "Project Archeology" workshops, lessons include hands-on activities that students undertake either on a field trip to Aztec Ruins or in the classroom with the replica artifacts. Produced through funds from a National Park Foundation grant, the guide has been distributed to all San Juan County fourth through seventh grade teachers.

The following downloadable files are in the PDF (Portable Document Format)format and readable by using Adobe Acrobat Reader software. The free Acrobat Reader software allows you to view, navigate, and print PDF files. You may download a free copy of Acrobat Reader (version 4.00) from Adobe Systems. Follow the installation instructions provided.

Introduction (intro.pdf): This file contains the Table of Contents, Introduction, How To Use This Guide, and Education Standards. This section is important to understand how the guide can be used and how the lesson plans relate to New Mexico State Education Standards. It also addresses the connections this place has to Pueblo people of today. The introduction includes a summary of the most recent archeological interpretations of the site, which is excellent background information for a class visit.
Lessons (lessons.pdf): This file contains Student Projects for Level I - Beginner; Level II - Intermediate, and Level III - Advanced.
Resources (resource.pdf): This file contains Archeologist Profiles, Glossary of Terms, Reference list, and A Teacher Comment and Evaluation Form.