TARGET LESSON: IDENTIFYING MAIN IDEAS AND CENTRAL IDEA WITH
“WHY DID THE MAYAN CIVILIZATION COLLAPSE?”
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Materials
Digital Option
Paper Option
● Assignable Digital Lesson
● Intro Slide Deck (optional)
● Printable Teacher PDF for answers to the
during-reading questions
● Digital Answer Key for answers to the
assessment questions
● Printable PDF Lesson
● Intro Slide Deck (recommended)
● Printable Teacher PDF for answers to the
during-reading questions
● Digital Answer Key for answers to the
assessment questions
About the Text
In this text, students learn about the collapse of the Mayan civilization. Students will explore a new
theory about the ancient civilization’s destruction.
About the Target Skill
In this lesson, students practice finding the main ideas of each paragraph or section and then the
article’s overall central idea.
Lesson Agenda
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Part 1 - Warm-Up: Writing (3-5 minutes)
Part 2 - Video Introducing the Target Skill: Identifying Main Ideas and Central Idea (5-8 minutes)
Part 3 - Review the Target Skill (1-3 minutes)
Part 4 - Reading and Answering Questions (15-30 minutes)
Part 5 - Assessment (10-15 minutes)
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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Target Lesson: Identifying Main Ideas and Central Idea with “Why Did the
Mayan Civilization Collapse?”
*Answers in blue. To help us ensure assessment security, please do not post or circulate these answers online.*
PART 1: Warm-Up: Writing
Directions: Look at the picture and answer the question.
Today you’re going to read about how the
collapse of the Mayan civilization may have
had environmental causes.
●
History, literature, and art often reflect the conflict
between people and nature.
In your opinion, who is in control: people
or nature?
Take three minutes to write down your ideas.
Student responses will vary
“Untitled” by pixel2013 is licensed under CC0.
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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PART 2: Video Introducing the Target Skill
Directions: Watch the video and then answer the question.
1. In your own words, how does identifying the main idea of each section help you determine the central idea?
Understanding what each paragraph or section is about helps you understand what the entire article is about.
PART 3: Review the Target Skill - Identifying Main Ideas and Central Idea
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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PART 4: Reading and Answering Questions
Directions: Read the text and answer the questions.
Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
By Joseph Stromberg
[1] It’s long been one of ancient history’s most intriguing mysteries:
Why did the Maya, a remarkably sophisticated civilization made up of
more than 19 million people, suddenly collapse sometime during the
8th or 9th centuries? Although the Mayan people never entirely
disappeared — their descendants still live across Central America —
dozens of core urban areas in the lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula,
such as Tikal, went from bustling cities to abandoned ruins over the
course of roughly a hundred years.
[2] Scholars and laypeople1 have proposed countless theories
accounting for the collapse, ranging from the plausible (overhunting,
Paragraph 1
1. What is the main idea of
paragraph 1?
A. The collapse of the Mayan
civilization is a myth.
B. The collapse of the Mayan
civilization was sudden.
C. The mystery of why the Mayan
civilization collapsed was
solved.
D. The mystery of why the Mayan
civilization collapsed has
fascinated people.
foreign invasion, peasant revolt) to the absurd (alien invasion,
Paragraph 2
supernatural forces). In his 2005 book Collapse, though, Jared Diamond
2. According to author Jared
Diamond, what caused the Mayan
Civilization to collapse?
put forth a different sort of theory — that a prolonged drought,
exacerbated by ill-advised deforestation, forced Mayan populations to
abandon their cities. That hypothesis has finally been put to the test
with archaeological evidence and environmental data and the results
were published this week in a pair of studies.
[3] In the first study, published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Arizona State
University analyzed archaeological data from across the Yucatan to
reach a better understanding of the environmental conditions when
the area was abandoned. Around this time, they found, severe
Complete the sentence starter in the
space below:
Jared Diamond suggested that the
collapse of the Mayan civilization was
due to…
●
Jared Diamond suggested
that the collapse of the
Mayan civilization was due to
drought that was worsened
by deforestation, which led to
Mayans fleeing their cities.
reductions in rainfall were coupled with a rapid rate of deforestation,
1
people without professional or specialized knowledge
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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as the Mayans burned and chopped down more and more forest to
Paragraph 3
clear land for agriculture. Interestingly, they also required massive
3. How did the study support Jared
Diamond’s hypothesis?
amounts of wood to fuel the fires that cooked the lime plaster2 for
their elaborate constructions — experts estimate it would have taken
●
20 trees to produce a single square meter of cityscape.
[4] The other study, published by researchers from Columbia
University and elsewhere this week in Geophysical Research Letters,
The new study analyzed
archaeological findings from
the Mayans and found that
there was little rainfall and
heavy deforestation around
the time of the civilization’s
collapse.
applied quantitative data to these trends. Using population records
and measurements from current forested and cleared lands in the
region, they constructed a computer model of deforestation in the
Yucatan and ran simulations to see how this would have affected
rainfall.
[5] Because cleared land absorbs less solar radiation,3 less water
Paragraph 5
evaporates from its surface, making clouds and rainfall more scarce. As
4. How did the second study test
Jared Diamond’s hypothesis?
a result, the rapid deforestation exacerbated an already severe
drought — in the simulation, deforestation reduced precipitation by
five to 15 percent and was responsible for 60 percent of the total
drying that occurred over the course of a century as the Mayan
●
The second study tested Jared
Diamond’s hypothesis by using
computer models and
simulations to study the trends
in deforestation and rainfall.
civilization collapsed. The lack of forest cover also contributed to
erosion and soil depletion.
[6] In a time of unprecedented population density, this combination of
factors was likely catastrophic. Crops failed, especially because the
droughts occurred disproportionately during the summer growing
season. Coincidentally, trade shifted from overland routes, which
crossed the heart of the lowland,4 to sea-based voyages, moving
around the perimeter of the peninsula.
2
created by heating limestone
the radiant energy emitted by the sun
4
low-lying country
3
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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[7] Since the traditional elite relied largely upon this trade — along
Paragraph 7
with annual crop surpluses — to build wealth, they were sapped of
5. What were the effects of
deforestation and drought?
much of their power. This forced peasants and craftsmen into making a
critical choice, perhaps necessary to escape starvation: abandoning
●
the lowlands. The results are the ornate5 ruins that stretch across the
The effects of deforestation
and drought were that crops
failed.
peninsula today.
[8] The collapse is especially intriguing because it seemingly occurred
Paragraph 8
at “a time in which developed a sophisticated understanding of their
6. What is the main idea of
paragraph 8?
environment, built and sustained intensive production and water
systems and withstood at least two long-term episodes of aridity,”6
says B.L. Turner, the lead author of the ASU study. In other words, the
Maya were no fools. They knew their environment and how to survive
within it — and still they continued deforesting at a rapid pace, until
Complete the sentence starter in the
space below:
The collapse of the Mayan civilization
is surprising because…
●
the local environment was unable to sustain their society.
[9] One of the lessons of these complementary studies, says climate
…the Maya people had a deep
understanding of the
environment, but still destroyed
it.
modeler Robert Oglesby of the University of Nebraska, who worked on
the second paper, is that our reshaping of the environment can often
Paragraph 9
have unintended consequences — and we may not have any idea of
7. What is the main idea of
paragraph 9?
what they are until it’s too late. For a present-day example, we can
even look to another region where the ancient Maya lived, Guatemala,
which is undergoing rapid deforestation. “There’s a tremendous
amount of change going on in Guatemala,” said Oglesby. “They may be
that much more vulnerable to a severe drought.”
●
The main idea of paragraph 9
is that we can learn from the
example of the Maya by
remembering that altering the
environment can have
profoundly negative long-term
effects.
Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?" by Joseph Stromberg. Copyright © 2012 by
Smithsonian Institution. Reprinted with permission from Smithsonian Enterprises. All rights
reserved. Reproduction in any medium is strictly prohibited without permission from
Smithsonian Institution.
5
6
Ornate (adjective) elaborately or excessively decorated
a deficiency of moisture, especially from an absence of rainfall
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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PART 5: Assessment
Directions: Answer the questions.
Note: To ensure test security, answers to the following assessment items are viewable only on commonlit.org for
verified teacher accounts. Navigate to the Answer Key button at the top of the digital lesson to gain access.
1. Which statement best identifies the central idea of the article?
A. The Mayan civilization collapsed because of overhunting and foreign invasion, and,
therefore, has relevance to our society today.
B. The Mayan civilization collapsed because people lived in lowland areas, and, therefore,
has relevance to our society today.
C. The Mayan civilization collapsed because of the use of water systems, and, therefore, has
relevance to our society today.
D. The Mayan civilization collapsed because of deforestation and drought and, therefore, has
relevance to our society today.
2. Summarize the article in 8-10 sentences. Use the central idea and main ideas you identified earlier in the lesson
as the basis of your summary.
Main Ideas and Central Idea: Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse?
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