Integrated Lesson / Social Studies / Non-fiction / Reading Comprehension. What is a Temple?

Transcription

1 What is a Temple? A temple is a building that is only used for religious activities such as prayer, honoring gods, or important ceremonies. Religious activities are things people do to honor, learn about, or worship a god they believe in. The people who build temples believe they are holy places. Long ago, people believed that the gods lived in the temples, or came to visit their people in the temples. There are many temples in the world today. Some temples are very, very old, and some are new. Most ancient people built temples in all different parts of the world. The picture to the right shows the Parthenon a famous temple built by the ancient Greeks. The Parthenon was built to honor the Greek goddess Athena. The people of Greece believed that she protected and took care of their country. The Parthenon was built in 438 B.C. It is over 2,400 years old! Temples are places where people have ceremonies. Ceremonies are sequences of actions that are usually done in the same way to celebrate something, or to honor a person or a god. When people get married they go through a ceremony. There are steps that happen in every marriage. The steps are different in different countries of the world, and in different religions. The ancient Greeks had ceremonies to honor their gods. The ancient Maya had ceremonies to honor their gods. The ceremonies were probably very different from each other, but they both had steps, or sequences of actions. The ancient Maya knew the steps of their ceremonies and the ancient Greeks knew theirs.

2 Name: Directions: Use the information on page 1 to fill in columns 2 and 3 of the vocabulary chart below. Draw a picture in the fourth column that shows an example of each word. Word What it Means: Definition Example: Use it in a Sentence Picture Temple Religious Activities Ceremony

3 Name: Directions: Use the article on page 1 to answer the questions below: 1. Why did people who built temples long ago most likely believe that temples were holy places? 2. Why did the ancient Greeks build the Parthenon? 3. Why was the goddess Athena important to the Greek people? 4. What are three activities that people do in temples? 5. What were two ways that the ceremonies of the ancient Greeks and Mayas were alike?

4 Important Buildings in the Great Plaza at Chichén Itzá The three biggest buildings of the Great Plaza were the Temple of Kukulcan, or El Castillo, the Temple of the Warriors, and the Great Ball Court, which included the Temple of the Jaguars and the Temple of the Bearded Man. El Castillo, or the Temple of Kukulcan El Castillo was probably used for important ceremonies by the rulers of Chichén Itzá. There may have been ceremonies to honor Kukulcan at El Castillo. Kukulcan was a feathered serpent, who was a god to the people of Mesoamerica. Different groups of people called this god by different names. The Aztecs and Toltecs called him Quetzalcoatl, while the Maya called him Kukulcan. The Aztecs believed that Quetzacoatl was a good god. He was the god of the morning star, or the planet Venus. They believe he invented farming, industry and the arts. The Aztecs also believed that he would come back to Earth one day and rule over the world.

5 El Castillo is a step pyramid, with four triangular faces and a square base. There are 9 terraces, or large steps, in the pyramid. El Castillo is 30 meters tall. It is made of limestone blocks. At the top of El Castillo is a square temple with four doorways. Each doorway faces a different direction: north, east, west and south. There is a steep stairway on each side of the pyramid that goes up to the upper temple. Maya people used to walk up the stairways to go to the temple at the top of the pyramid. Each stairway has 91 steps. If the temple at the top of the pyramid is counted as a final step, there are exactly 365 steps in all. Scientists think that there is one step for each day of the year. In the picture below, you can see how massive the pyramid is compared to the people walking at its base.

6 The stairway on the north side of the pyramid is very interesting. The balustrades, or stair rails, on each side of the stairs are made to look like snakes. These end as huge, carved serpent heads with open mouths at the base of the pyramid. The picture to the right shows a balustrade on the north face of the pyramid. On the day of the spring equinox, the sun casts a shadow down the side of El Castillo making the balustrade look like a snake slithering from the skies down the side of the pyramid. The spring equinox is celebrated on March 21 st. It is the time of the year when day and night have the same number of hours! Equinox means equal. The Maya people gathered to watch the serpent slither down the side of the pyramid. Today, tourists come to Chichén Itzá on March 21 st from all over the world to watch the snake appear on the Temple of Kukulcan during the spring equinox. The Temple of Kukulcan was voted to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World in 2007! It is one of the most popular places for tourists to visit both in Mexico, and in the entire world. Image Credit: Bmamlin: Image released into public domain

7 Name: Directions: Use the information on pages 4 6 to answer the questions below: 1. The Temple of the Jaguars was part of. A. El Castillo B. The Temple of the Bearded Man C. The Great Ball Court D. The Temple of the Warriors 2. Another name Kukulcan was called is. A. Toltec B. Quetzalcoatl C. Feathered D. Aztec 3. Think about what you learned about temples by reading the information on Page 1. Explain how El Castillo was used as a temple on the lines below:

8 4. The article states that Kukulcan was a feathered serpent. A serpent is a snake. Draw a picture in the space below that shows what you think Kukulcan looked like: 5. Read this sentence from the article, You can see how massive the pyramid is compared to the people walking at its base. In this sentence the word massive means A. heavy B. huge C. height D. Heroic 6. Why is the stairway on the north side of El Castillo very interesting? 7. How is March 21 st at Chichén Itzá the same today as it was long ago?

9 ANSWER KEYS: Page 2: Definitions for temple, religious activities, and ceremonies appear in the text on Page # 1. Sentences may vary. Page 3: 1. Why did people who built temples long ago most likely believe that temples were holy places? Possible answer: The people of long ago believed that temples were holy places because they thought that the gods lived in temples. They also believed that gods came to the temple to visit their people. 2. Why did the ancient Greeks build the Parthenon? They built the Parthenon to honor Athena; a goddess they thought protected their country. 3. Why was the goddess Athena important to the Greek people? They believed that Athena protected and took care of their country. 4. What are three activities that people do in temples? Possible answers: Have ceremonies, honor gods, pray, learn about gods, worship gods. 5. What were two ways that the ceremonies of the ancient Greeks and Mayas were alike? They both had ceremonies to honor their gods. Their ceremonies had steps. Pages 7 and 8: 1. The Temple of the Jaguars was part of. G. The Great Ball Court 2. Another name Kukulcan was called is. F. Quetzalcoatl 3. Think about what you learned about temples by reading the information on Page 1. Explain how El Castillo was used as a temple on the lines below: Possible answer: Ceremonies are held in temples. People held ceremonies to honor Kukulcan at El Castillo. Maya people believed that Kukulcan visited the temple there and appeared as a snake slithering down the stairway on March 21 st, the Spring Equinox. 4. Feathered serpent drawings will vary. 5. Huge 6. Possible answer: The balustrades are carved to look like snakes. On the Spring Equinox, it looks like a snake is slithering down the side of the pyramid. 7. Possible answer: People gather on March 21 st to watch the snake appear and slither down the side of the pyramid.