Mayan Mathematics
Explore the fascinating number system of the ancient Maya civilization with this Grade 5 social studies worksheet.
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Mayan Mathematics
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. This worksheet will test your knowledge of Mayan mathematics.
The ancient Maya civilization developed a sophisticated number system. Unlike our base-10 system, the Mayan system was base-20 (vigesimal) and used only three symbols: a dot for one, a bar for five, and a shell-like symbol for zero. They wrote numbers vertically, with the lowest values at the bottom.
Here are the Mayan symbols for numbers 0-19:
1. What base did the Mayan number system use?
Base-10
Base-12
Base-20
Base-60
2. Which symbol represented zero in the Mayan number system?
A dot
A bar
A shell
A square
3. The Mayan number system used a (base-20) system.
4. In Mayan numbers, a single dot represents the number .
5. A horizontal bar in Mayan numerals represents the number .
6. Explain one way the Mayan number system is different from the number system we use today.
7. Convert the following Mayan numerals to our standard decimal numbers. Use the image from the introduction as a reference.
A.
B.
C.