Mayan Number System Exploration
Explore the fascinating Mayan number system with this interactive worksheet, designed for grade 5 students to understand its unique symbols and base-20 structure.
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Mayan Number System
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Read each question carefully and answer to the best of your ability. This worksheet will help you understand the ancient Mayan number system.
The Maya civilization used a unique numbering system that was different from the system we use today. Their system was a base-20 system, which means it was based on groups of 20, unlike our base-10 system. They used three main symbols to represent numbers: a dot, a bar, and a shell.
Here are the basic Mayan symbols:
• (Dot) = 1
— (Bar) = 5
(Shell) = 0
1. What base did the Mayan number system primarily use?
Base-10
Base-12
Base-20
Base-60
2. Which Mayan symbol represents the number zero?
Dot
Bar
Shell
Line
3. In the Mayan number system, a single dot represents the value of .
4. The Mayan symbol for a bar represents the value of .
5. Explain how the Mayan number system is different from the number system we use today.
Match the Mayan symbol to its value.
6. •
a. 5
7. —
b. 0
8.
c. 1
9. Draw the Mayan symbol for the number 7 in the box below.
10. Draw the Mayan symbol for the number 12 in the box below.