National History Day - 2008-2009

Next year's National History Day (research project) topic is "The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies".

Their contest is for 6th - 12th graders. The categories are expected to stay the same as previous years: historical paper, group or individual exhibit, group or individual performance, group or individual documentary, group or individual website.

(state level May 3rd, 2008?)

Planning Pi Day Party

Considering - Pi Day Party on March 14, 2008

Why not? 3.14159...

piday.org is the official site but you can also read more at Wikipedia's Pi_Day entry or get activity ideas from Exploratorium's celebrations and Math with Mr. Herte.

Looking for the first million digits of Pi? If you are trying to remember "just" the first 50 digits, you may want to try this pneumonic song for the 50 fifty digits of Pi. (I am the first fifty digits of Pi lyrics or I am the first fifty digits of Pi as tablature for the guitar) Need Pi magnets, coffee cups, stickers, or T-shirts? There are more out there than you might expect. Thinking ahead for next year...?

Pi day is also Albert Einstein's birthday. Read about Albert Einstein at Wikipedia. He would be turn 129 years old if he were alive in 2008. Of course there are Einstein T-shirts, etc. out there too!

Maya Food

Maize (corn) was the most important crop and a staple of their diet. They also grew sweet potatoes, beans, squash, and yucca and hunted for wild turkey, duck, deer, monkey, and peccary(wild pig) and caught fish. Many living in the Yucatan today have a similar diet.

Only nobility could drink chocolate.

Websites to check:
The Maya Foodtimeline on food and agriculture, Wikipedia on Maya cuisine, and Food of the Maya 300 BC to 900 AD (their only recipe is popcorn!).

Learn more about Corn at Newton's Apple. Video. Ethnobotany Teacher's guide

Recipes online:

• Maya Recipes including tamales, pumpkin soup, ...
• Maya Recipes from FuegoNeuvo Restaurant (salsa, soups, main dishes & a drink)
• Apple Strudel (what kind of apples did they have?)

Friends of Big Dog: Don't forget to sign up for your favorite themed food to bring on Friday of the dig!

Maya Resources

Suggested Periodical Articles

• "The Maya," Kids Discover, 2003.
• "Mexico," Kids Discover, 2005.
• "Maya: How a Great Culture Rose and Fell," National Geographic, August 2007

Books

• expected - do you have any to recommend?
  

Videos to Consider

• Conquistadors - PBS series, 4 shows. Four part series on the discovery of the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors and the subsequent fall of the Aztec and Inca empires. (DVD)
• Maya-related videos online Newton's apple. Each also has a teacher's guide with suggested activities:
  
• Maya Quest on a bike! (associated Science Try-it)
  
• Ethnobotany video(think corn, Science Try-It)
• Jungle
• Inca Engineering
  

Web Sites to Explore

• Explore the MesoAmerican World - With interactive map and timeline showing Maya
• The Maya - Websites about the Maya, including a Mayan Game and folktale
  
• Maya and Inca Webquest - Pointers and information for you to create your own Maya presentation
• Mystery of the Maya - In support of the IMAX film of the same name
• Mayas - small pages of food, agriculture, etc.