Quetzalcoatl

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/quetzalcoatl

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the nahuatl name meaning?Feathered Serpent
2. What is the primary cultural affiliations?Aztec, Toltec, Maya (as Kukulkan), and earlier Mesoamerican civilizations
3. Why is he called a feathered serpent?His name comes from the Nahuatl words for a bright green bird (quetzal) and a snake (coatl). The bird’s feathers and the snake’s body together make the feathered serpent image.
4. How did Quetzalcoatl help people?He taught people how to grow maize, the main food of Mesoamerica. He also helped create the calendar, taught astronomy, and inspired the arts.

Syncretism: The merging of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought, especially in the creation of a new belief system.
Cosmology: The branch of astronomy concerned with the origin and evolution of the universe; a theory or model of the universe.
Culture Hero: A mythological hero endowed with supernatural attributes or powers, who יד to establish the basic conditions for human society.