Illustrated with reproductions of Mayan art and architecture, this activity book contains readings and activities about the Maya, including bilingual lesson sheets. The materials link middle school classroom studies of Mayan culture with history, social studies, and community resources. Eight lesson units explore the central aspects of Mayan art. The introductory unit, deals with the basic elements of Mayan culture, including historic context, environment, numerical system, astronomy, and cosmology. The second unit presents the most common subjects in Mayan art: Lord Pacal, the military, aesthetic experiences from art of deformed figures, women, stylized animals, jaguars, bats, snakes, characteristics of deities, the principal bird deity, and thrones. The third unit of lessons looks at central themes in Mayan art which include storytelling, accession, the tablets of Palenque, ballcourts, ball players, and ball player themes of vase paintings. Unit four presents the different media used in Mayan art: corbelling, clay, and jadeite. The 18 lessons in unit 5 cover architecture, Mayan revival architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright, outdoor sculpture, stelae, boulder monuments, footwear, directions at Quirigua, governor relief, communications about glyphs, lintels and flat stone reliefs, wood reliefs, painting, classic Maya pottery, drawing, and cartoons. Unit 6 deals with the different functions of art objects: pottery, recipes, drinking vessels, ocarinas, whistles, rattles, incense burner, backstrap weaving, costumes, and headdresses. The seventh unit explores Maya notions of aesthetics and symmetry. Unit 8 looks at Mayan artistic style and artists. The book concludes with a 74-item bibliography of instructional resources and an index. (FB)