Karan UppalMrs.OrloffEnglish Pre-AP P-4April 22nd, 2015Research designTopic-MayansQuestion- Why did the Mayans disappear from their discoveries?1) Background information- The Mayans were a civilization that thrived during 500 AD and 900 AD with one of the most heavily populated civilization ever in Mexico and part of Honduras this was because the tradition and culture they had occupied had benefited from the land of mexico with the neighboring gulf they had acquired a very interesting way of life that is still remembered today and have innovated or invented the most simplistic technologies that we still use today.-The Mayans developed a calendar that ended in 2012-The Mayans created their own routes for marketing similar to the Silk Road in China.-The Mayans developed the concept of 0-The Mayans developed structures that were closely related to the pyramids of giza-When Spain decided to discover the americas the ancient civilization was then discovered by the spaniards and several other civilizations such as the incas and aztecs which were all diminished empires by the conquistadors as they so called them.-The Mayans are actually alive today but left their culture and information behind.

2) Origins of research- The origin of research came from when I was in fourth grade studying and saw such great buildings and statues created by the most influential culture in central america in my textbook. I soon discovered that the Mayans all of sudden vanished for no reason and then in December 21, 2012 their calendar which they created had ended which sparked my interests even more about this topic and wanted to find out the purpose of them leaving these great accomplishments behind.My biggest question is why did such a massive amount of people leave an incredibly advanced amount of knowledge behind during the time the world was being explored and could this happen in the future?I also want to actually find out some of the reasons and hints of why they left behind their culture and advanced technological discoveries during the time?

3) What I want to learn from this topic- Did the Mayans leave clues and reason why they left behind so much and could the mayans actually be visited by extraterrestrials?

-Questions about topic-1)Do you believe the Mayans ever exist in other places other than in Central America at that specific time?2)Do you believe they leave hints of why they left?3)Do you believe the Mayans are related to extraterrestrial beings?4)Why do you believe the Mayans chose 2012 as the end date of their calendar?5)Do you think Mayans knew the Egyptians knowing the fact that the pyramids of Giza are the same shape of Chichen Itza?6)Did the Mayans do sacrifices for gods or extraterrestrial beings?7)Did they believe in many gods and why do you think so?8)Did the Mayans ever know that the world was round before he Europeans?9)Did the mayans ever invent other things and did they possibly get these ideas from other sources?10)Could the Mayans possibly left because of natural causes?11)Could the Mayans situation be similar to the dinosaurs leaving as well?12)Why do you think the Mayans involved themselves so heavily in astronomy?13)What was the purpose of gathering so much information for astronomical purposes?14)Was there a system of villages between the mayans?15)What is the Mayan conspiracy?16)If the mayans were visited by aliens then what did they gain from them?17)Could the aliens be the reason why the mayans disappeared from their villages?18)Did the mayans ever describe aliens in their hieroglyphic writings?19)What was the purpose of mayans making their city similar to the pyramids of giza?20)How did the Mayans survive so well with so many people in a rainforest?21)What advancements did they make in astronomy22)Were mayans branches of the Aztecs?23)Was the reason why the mayans left disease, war, drought or another reason?24)Can anyone read the mayan hieroglyphs and are they similar to other hieroglyphs?

4) Plan for collecting information about my topic-My plan for collecting information is looking for what the Mayans had accomplished such major advancements from the rest of the world, the Mayans made many accomplishments. Then I will read a book on some of the Mayan pieces such as the Popo Vuh which tells what some of religious aspects of the Mayans include and some of their gods that they describe. Next I will research if they have anything to do with aliens and find out and analyze what "The Mayan Conspiracy" actually is. The Mayans have many book but only 4 remain and no one can read them but there are still people for the Mayan culture in the Yucatn in Mexico this will allow me to research on what that area is like and see what they're traditional and agricultural life was as they excelled in this. I want to know every little aspect of their astronomical and mathematical achievements which made them come up with the Mayan calendar which ended on December 21,2012 and figure out what relations did their mathematical achievements such as calculating the rotation of the earths axis have on them and why did they want to do any of this math anyway? The next step and final step on my research will be on what the Hieroglyphic meaning of some of the Mayans carving meant and figure out what messages did they leave behind.