1. Arrange students into groups. Each group needs at least ONE person who has a mobile device.
2. If their phone camera doesn't automatically detect and decode QR codes, ask students to
4. Cut them out and place them around your class / school.
1. Give each group a clipboard and a piece of paper so they can write down the decoded questions and their answers to them.
2. Explain to the students that the codes are hidden around the school. Each team will get ONE point for each question they correctly decode and copy down onto their sheet, and a further TWO points if they can then provide the correct answer and write this down underneath the question.
3. Away they go! The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available. This could be within a lesson, or during a lunchbreak, or even over several days!
4. A detailed case study in how to set up a successful QR Scavenger Hunt using this tool can be found here.
Question | Answer |
| 1. 1.) Ritual bloodletting was crucial to Maya rituals because A) it pleased their god Indra. B) the flow of blood terrified their enemies. C) it was associated with rain and agriculture. D) they had copied the technique from the earlier Aztecs. E) blood was considered taboo. | C | 2. 2.) The staple food of Mesoamerica was A) squash. B) beans. C) fish. D) maize. E) potato. | D | 3. 3.) The first society of Mesoamerica, which founded traditions followed by all later societies, was the A) Maya. B) Olmec. C) Teotihuacan. D) Mochica. E) Aztec. | B | 4. 4.) The term Olmec means A) “lords.” B) “masters of the middle earth.” C) “rubber people.” D) “wanderers.” E) “noble people.” | C | 5. 5.) The most characteristic artistic creations of the Olmecs were A) pyramids. B) elaborate murals. C) temples. D) ziggurats covered with a limestone finish. E) colossal human heads sculpted from basalt. | E | 6. 6.) The most important political center of the Maya realm at its height was A) Kaminaljuyú. B) Teotihuacan. C) Tikal. D) Chavín. E) San Lorenzo. | C | 7. 7.) Which of the following mathematical concepts, essential for positional notation and the manipulation of large numbers, was invented by Maya mathematicians? A) infinity. B) zero. C) long division. D) exponential notation. E) negative numerals | B | 8. 8.) The most flexible and sophisticated system of writing found in the ancient Americas was created by the A) Olmecs. B) Maya. C) Teotihuacan society. D) Chavín cult. E) Incas. | B | 9. 9.) The Popol Vuh was the A) most important of the Maya gods. B) largest Olmec ceremonial center. C) Maya story of creation. D) greatest Austronesian epic. E) Olmec law code. | C | 10. 10.) One of the earliest Andean states, which left a remarkable artistic legacy through its ceramics, was A) Chavín. B) Teotihuacan. C) San Lorenzo. D) Mochica. E) Maya. | D | 11. 11.) The Lapita peoples A) spread the concept of the wheeled chariot. B) worshipped the Chavín cult. C) traded with the Mesopotamians. D) introduced bronze technology to China. E) were the earliest Austronesian migrants to establish human settlements in the Pacific Ocean. | E | 12. 12.) The most important city of the Toltecs was A) Tula. B) Teotihuacan. C) Cuzco. D) Tenochtitlan. E) Cahokia. | A | 13. 13.) Mexica A) was the region that originally gave rise to the first Aztecs. B) was the name of the lake where the Aztecs established their capital. C) were the people who were later called Aztecs. D) was the principal god of the early Aztecs. E) was the leading pre-Inca society in South America. | C | 14. 14.) The capital of the Aztec empire was A) Tula. B) Teotihuacan. C) Cuzco. D) Tenochtitlan. E) Chichén Itźa. | D | 15. 15.) In the Aztec social hierarchy, most of the honors and rewards went to the A) priests. B) women. C) farmers. D) military elite. E) bureaucrats. | D | 16. 16.) A Mexica woman who died in childbirth A) suffered the greatest shame for her inability to serve the state. B) was denied the right to pass on to the afterworld. C) won the same fame as warriors who died valiantly in battle. D) was seen as a sign of the gods’ displeasure with the tribe. E) was considered to be a sacrifice to the rain god. | C | 17. 17.) The Aztecs viewed human sacrifice as a(n) A) means of mass entertainment. B) form of state terrorism to terrify their enemies into submission. C) essential ritual to ensure the world’s survival. D) primitive act that their ancestors had ignorantly preformed. E) necessary evil to maintain their alliance with the wealthy Inca. | C | 18. 18.) Cahokia was the A) legendary founder of the Inca people. B) dominant South American society before the rise of the Incas. C) North American mound that was the third largest structure in the pre-Columbian Americas. D) Aztec god also known as “the Smoking Mirror.” E) Maya woman who translated for the Spanish. | C | 19. 19.) The kingdom of Chucuito was located in A) southwest North America. B) northeast North America. C) Mesoamerica. D) Oceania E) South America. | E | 20. 20.) The Inca quipu was A) a mnemonic aid consisting of small cords with knots. B) the underground irrigation system that allowed for an agricultural surplus. C) the head priest in charge of determining victims for human sacrifice. D) the underworld. E) demons who inhabited the night and who tempted the spiritually unprepared. | A | 21. 21.) Rulers of which group deliberated state policy in the presence of the mummies of their predecessors? A) Inca B) Aztec C) Chimu D) Pueblo E) Maya | A | 22. 22.) The Inca sun god was A) Viracocha. B) Huitzilopochtli. C) Cuzco. D) Quetzalcóatl. E) Inti. | E | 23. 23.) A marae was A) a Pacific island temple. B) a member of the priestly class in Hawai`i. C) a Polynesian sun god. D) the type of open boat that allowed for continual trade between the Pacific islands. E) a family of water sprites that were a central feature in Pacific island mythology. | A | 24. 24.) Austronesian peoples established what type of political societies in the lands they settled? A) hierarchical chiefdom B) theocratic C) matrilineal D) peasant-driven communal E) democratic | A | 25. 25.) True or False: High chiefs guided the affairs of complex societies throughout Polynesia, as they allocated land, mobilized the work force, and organized men into military service. | True | 26. 26.) True or False: With seasonal migrations, encounters with other people, and trade, the aboriginal people of Australia diffused their cultural traditions throughout the Pacific islands. | False | 27. 27.) True or False Unlike imperial states in the eastern hemisphere, the Aztec empire had no elaborate bureaucracy or administration. | True | 28. 28.) True or False: The Austronesian-speaking peoples became the first human settlers on Madagascar. | True | 29. 29.) True or False: The potato was so important to some Andean people that they measured time with it. | True | 30. 30.) True or False: The harsh geological and climatological environment of the Anders led the people there to create a horizontal economy. | False |
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