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Step-by-step explanation:
5: Floating Gardens
Because the Aztecs got the last of the land that was up for grabs in the Valley of Mexico, it wasn't rich farmland. Actually, living on an island in the middle of a swampy lake meant there wasn't much land at all. But that didn't prevent the Aztecs from growing enough food to support a population that, at its height, required 88 million pounds of corn per year to feed just the residents of the capital city, Tenochtitlan [source: Green].
So how'd they do it? The Aztecs produced prodigious amounts of corn, beans and squash, and they even raised animals such as turkeys through the use of floating gardens known as chinampas.
To create these agricultural wonders, areas of approximately 90 feet by 8 feet (27.4 meters by 2.4 meters) were staked out in the lake. These stakes were joined by poles intertwined with reeds, twigs and branches. This rectangular enclosure was then filled with mud and decaying plant matter to raise it above the surface of the lake. Willow trees (which were pruned so they wouldn't block too much sunlight) were planted around the border. As they grew, the trees helped anchor the floating plot to the lakebed.
Human manure was used as fertilizer, which served the dual purposes of providing nutrients for the crops while keeping the city clean.
Food and Drink
The main staple of the Aztec diet was corn, which was typically ground and made into tortillas. It was also turned into popped corn, which was a tradition the Aztecs picked up from their Mayan predecessors. Wealthy Aztecs enjoyed an early form of hot chocolate known as cacahuatl that they inherited from the Mayans. One thing they didn't consume, however, was alcohol. It was illegal throughout the empire … until the age of 70, that is, when it was fine to drink away.
4: Universal Education
Schoolchildren who bemoan the modern law requiring them to attend classes can blame the Aztecs, who developed a system of compulsory education for all of their children. But any grade-schooler who complains about getting on the bus in the morning should think about how easy he or she has it.
For Aztec children, education began in the home, with girls learning domestic chores and boys learning their fathers' trades. Youngsters were given only a small amount of food so they could learn how to squelch their appetites. Boys had to undergo the additional hardship of exposure to extreme temperatures, designed to help them develop yolteotl, a heart of stone, which was part of their warrior training [source: Reagan].
Perhaps, then, it was a relief to go off to school.
From the ages of 12 to 15, all children were required to attend a school known as a cuicacalli, or house of song, where they learned ceremonial songs and the cosmology of their people. Kids were escorted to and from this school by elders to ensure no one went truant.
For most girls, formal education ended at age 15, but from 15 to 20 years of age, the boys of commoners attended a school known as telpochcalli, where they slept at night. The study here was primarily military in nature. Sons of the nobility, however, attended a different school called calmécac, where they stayed in residence and had their military training enhanced with a study of the humanities such as architecture, math, painting and history. Priests and government officials were chosen from the calmécacs.
Worse Than Clapping Erasers
Should a child fail to obey the rules during his or her early education, punishments could be severe. At age 9, boys could be pierced with cactus spines; at age 10, they could be made to inhale the smoke from burning chilies; and by age 12, they could be bound and forced to lie on a cold wet mat. Girls suffered similar punishments, and at age 10, they could be beaten with a stick if their cotton was spun poorly [source: Andrade].
3: Soccer
Well, it wasn't quite the game we know as soccer today, but the Aztecs did play a game that could very well have been a precursor. It was called ollama, and was played on a field called a tlachtli, which is often used interchangeably as the name of the game. The tlachtli was shaped like an "I" and had walls that were approximately three times the height of the men on the field. Attached near the top of these walls were stone rings said to represent the sunrise and sunset. The aim of the game was to knock a small rubber ball (which represented the sun, moon or stars) through the rings using only the hips, knees or elbows.