Teaching about The Inca Empire can be a daunting task. I mean, there are textbooks written on this ancient civilization, complete documentaries, and thousands of resources. How will you narrow down your lesson plan for high school students? You want to highlight the main parts of the Inca Empire while bringing in elements of excitement and awe. Don’t bore your students with a mundane history lesson. The Inca empire is known for its incredible ruins, herbal medicines, captivating stories, and so much more. Showcase the exciting parts of this incredible civilization. Here are some of my favorite ideas when I teach about The Inca Empire.
The History of the Inca Empire
You definitely want to start with the history of the Inca empire, but don’t want to overwhelm students. You could teach an entire course just on the history. So, highlight the main points. Keep it comprehensible and fun. When I taught the history of the Inca Empire to my Spanish 4 students, they were actually learning the same thing in World History class, so you may find yourself teaching content that they already know, just in the target language.
If you are looking for comprehensible readings that are to the point and cover the main areas of Inca life and society, check out these readings in Spanish or English. I like using jigsaw style reading activities, so small student groups are each responsible for a section of the text. After reading about it, they present to the class. This way, students don’t have to read the entire text and they still learn all the info!
YouTube is also filled with great summaries of the history of the Inca Empire. Here are my favorite videos:
- Zamba con los Incas – Spanish cartoon – my favorite!
- The Rise and Fall of the Inca Empire – English
- Who Were the Incas? – Spanish
- El imperio de los Incas: La historia Draw My Life – Spanish
Teaching about history is a perfect way to incorporate preterit vs imperfect in an authentic, comprehensible way. Your texts and videos will be in the past tense, so students will naturally begin to acquire the forms if you provide it in simple terms!
Technology of the Inca Empire
We tend to think of objects and tools from ancient times as being obsolete. But these civilizations were actually very technologically advanced. They developed many tools and resources that are considered brilliant to this day. Take for example the construction and architecture of the Inca empire. The sturdy walls and agricultural terraces are still in existence today, and still just as strong! When I traveled to Peru, I marveled at the 12 angled stone, so carefully placed with all of these other stones without any mortar and without the use of the wheel!
I used these Spanish or English readings to teach about the Inca Empire during a Science and Technology unit. This is another great opportunity for jigsaw readings. Each group takes a section of the text and presents the information to the class.
Myths and Legends
The Inca civilization is known for its many myths and legends. Share some of these stories that have been passed down for thousands of years. Your students will find them to be engaging, romantic, inspiring, and even unbelievable! A common theme among myths and legends from this civilization is the creation of a natural landmark. For example, the Legend of Lake Titicaca explains how the highest navigable lake in the world came to be and where its name originated from. I also love the Legend of the Llama and the Legend of Rainbow Mountain.
I found a particularly interesting story on a Duolingo podcast about “El río hirviente,” or the Boiling River. In the podcast, the storyteller goes in search of the river with boiling waters in the Amazon. He grew up listening to his grandfather tell the story of this marvel, and when he grew up, he became a scientist specializing in geothermal energy. So, he goes exploring deep in the jungle to see what he can find! I created a lesson for my Spanish 4 classes based on this episode and legend that you can find here.
Showcase the Inca Ruins
You obviously want to mention the major ruins in Peru that the Inca empire created. Machu Picchu is the most famous of all ruins. Share images or a video of this incredible site. Below are some pictures of my trip. Here is the 12-angled stone I mentioned. Plus, just look at these terraces and perfectly designed walls!
You can even have students explore Google Maps and jump into Machu Picchu and explore the ruins in a 360 degree view! I love using virtual field trips for this purpose. They are the most authentic way for our students to see the world from our classroom. Students love the ability to interact on the map, like they are actually at the ruins! Check out this Virtual Field Trip of the Sacred Valley in Spanish or English.
Machu Picchu is not the only place the Incas are famous for. There are tons of other ruins like Ollantaytambo, Sacsayhuaman or Moray, among many others. Let your students each choose another set of ruins to learn about and present to the class!
Study Llamas
Llamas are still taking the world by storm in terms of pop culture. Wherever you look, you see llamas on backpacks, clothing, bedding, and more! These animals played an important role in the Inca civilization. I recently designed a new course for my school The World of Learning Institute. The class is called Spanish 3: Hispanic Pop Culture, and one of the units I designed focuses on traditions shaping pop culture. I devoted an entire seminar in the curriculum to llamas. Students will learn how this animal played a useful, practical role in ancient times and is still prominent in today’s society.
You can read the history of llamas or the legend of llamas, which explains why llamas inhabit areas with high altitudes. Or you could show fun videos about llamas, like this one here.
Another practical way to talk about llamas is to explain their use in Inca times and their use today. They were a mode of transporting goods (and still are) in Peru. But I don’t know if the Incas ever expected llamas to help stressed university students study for exams!
Escape Room
After students have learned about the history, technology, fun facts, and more of the Inca empire, challenge them with an escape room! Let them put their knowledge to the test. This is a fun way to wrap up the entire unit. In my escape rooms, I like to incorporate a little bit of everything we learned. So, I will have a puzzle on the history, a legend, ruins or a map, the religion, etc. Students love working together to solve these puzzles!
Learn how to use escape rooms here and if you want to grab an Inca Escape Room, here is a Spanish or English version.
Do you want all of these resources?
If you’re ready to teach about the Inca Empire, but are in need of resources, I have a money saving bundle of the resources I mentioned above! Get 7 lessons and texts for Spanish class, including myths, legends, history, the escape room and more!
