When teaching this Mayan unit at KS2, you are advised to use the medium-term planner (see medium term planning) from which all the outstanding lessons flow. Starting with exploring the reasons why the Maya topic is on the curriculum, pupils learn how the Mayan civilization grew so strong when the odds against it were so huge. They then devote most time to exploring the characteristics features of the Mayan society and comparing it with the state of Britain at the same time i.e. about AD1100. To help pupils develop the use of evidence, they are asked to work out how we can be so sure about what life was like for the Maya a thousand years ago. The topic concludes with an open-ended enquiry which challenges pupils to work collaboratively to create their own plausible answer to the riddle of why the Mayan civilization came to such an abrupt end.
