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If you had to pick anywhere in the world to build a civilization where would it be? Why?

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Objective: I can explain how the Inca innovated to meet their needs.

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Directions: Examine the images in the Padlet, then complete the chart below.

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Directions: Examine the images and text on the Padlet, then answer the accompanying questions.

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Since the Inca Empire controlled an area that included the Pacific Ocean coast in the west, the heights of the Andes Mountains in the center, and the Amazon River Basin to the east, its people lived in a wide variety of geographic contexts with different climates, animal and plant life, and geographic features. Each of these regions provided advantages and disadvantages for the Inca who lived there.

Though the Pacific Ocean provides food from plant life in the sea, fish, birds, and sea mammals, on land, the coast is a desert-like climate where it is difficult to grow food. The Andes are high, rugged mountains, that have cold snow capped peaks, as well as fertile river valleys, and plateaus that are good for agriculture. Although, prone to earthquakes living in the mountains can be unpredictable.

The rainforest in the Amazon River Basin is a humid place with this vegetation. It is good for growing tropical crops, but large-scale agriculture is difficult in the rainforest.

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Geographic Context of the Inca Empire audio

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Directions: Examine the images and text on the Padlet, then answer the accompanying questions.

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Although the rugged Andes Mountains create extreme weather conditions and make transportation difficult, they have hidden advantages that Andean people learned to exploit. The difference in altitude between the peaks created wide variations in temperature and rainfall at different altitudes. The varying topography of the mountains creates a variety of ecological niches, which are zones where different types of animals and plants can survive. So, instead of having to travel hundreds of miles to arrive in a different climate, Andean people can walk as little as 60 miles to go from a tropical forest in the lowlands to the frozen tundra of the highlands. Plants with different planting and harvesting times can be grown at different altitudes. Families farmed different plots of land at each altitude that might be two or three days apart by foot. This made it possible to have variety in their diet during the same season.

This system, called a “vertical economy,” has many advantages in the harsh Andean climate. First, it gives a community access to a wide variety of foods and other products. Second, it protects them against the impact of harsh and unpredictable weather conditions—if frost or drought destroys the crop at one elevation, the community can fall back on the harvest in another ecological niche. Andean farmers also plant several (sometimes dozens) of varieties of one crop like potatoes in a single field so that at least some plants will survive the season’s unpredictable temperature and rainfall.

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Directions: Watch a clip of the BBC documentary, “The Inca: Masters of the Clouds” (18:30-23:30) then examine the graphic in the Padlet and answer the question at the bottom of this box.  As you watch the video clip take notes on how the Inca modified their environment to meet their needs in the graphic organizer below.

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18:30-23:30

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Directions: Using evidence from the information above, respond to the task below in the space provided.

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Take a photo of everything in 2.15 under “10/29 2.15 Inca Innovation L16”

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Answer the Exit Ticket under “10/29 Exit Ticket”