Friday, September 19, 2014

8th Grade/ Living In The Rainforest (Natural Dyes)



Much of the southern portion of Central America and the northern portion of South America is covered in rainforest, and have influenced many practices of the people living here. Tropical rainforests can be characterized in two words: hot and wet. Since much of Latin America is rainforest, and is home to the Ancient Maya, the next phase of our investigation of the America’s will focus on “living in the rainforest.” We will start with focusing on the natural resources that are available in this area that provide an advantage to the Mayans. In order to do this, we will start with an experiment with making natural dyes in order to connect this process historically and to today.   

Homework Response Question: 

1.What made the use of plants as a natural source of dye important to the Ancient Mayans? Does the use of plant dyes help shape the culture of the people? Remember culture consists of traditions, values, beliefs, and knowledge. [Due by 9/25/14]

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

The natural source of dye is important to the Mayans because the dye helps to make their clothes different colors. The use of plant dye helps shape culture by like how tribes have different colors. Like one Mayan tribe's color's might be green and gold, while another tribe has blue and red. It's to help them recognize their tribe members.
By: MIRCOLE LACSON!!!

Anonymous said...

Makayla Joseph 5/6 BDF
It made the dye valuable because they were the only ones that knew how to make and use the dye. Yes, the use of plant dyes were shaping the culture because the people have the power to afford certain dyes.

Unknown said...

The importance of the natural dye for the Mayans is that will help the people to know what region you are from. As well the forest that the Mayans were surrounded produced dye so the Mayans would get more if they ran out. The dye changes the culture because the type of color and design their clothes have will show where they are from

Anonymous said...

The dye was important to the Ancient Mayans because it provided many things they needed. For instance the dye provided paint for paintings and murals, they have provided color for clothing or any fabrics, for textiles and many more. The dyes shows that the culture back then were unique and they stood out because no one else had such things like the Mayans.
~JinJoo Lee 7,8 BDF

Anonymous said...

The use of plants was as a source of dye because it was used as a bug repellant.It helped shape the culture to show that the Mayans had very valuable things like the dye which no one had ever seen. People coming into the Mayan culture were fascinated by the dye. It was a very expensive, which everyone wanted.

Maryam alnaseri 5/6 Bdf

Anonymous said...

Dylan Bennish
Plants used as natural dyes made people be able to tell the difference between who they were (king/queen, regions, etc.). Yes the use of plant dyes shaped the culture of people because the dye tells where people are from, their position, etc.

Unknown said...

The importance of the dyes was to decorate the clothing and blankets that the Myans made. It showed personality and culture. The dyes could affect the culture because it could be a sign of where the person came from which would be the Mayas.

Anonymous said...

collin sokola

the dies could have been important to hunting because they would be able to get closer to the animals with dark clothes to blend in

Destin Ames said...

Destin Ames
The importance of natural dyes to the Mayans. The Mayans would decorate fabric and clothing with colors, which could lead to color meaning the social class of the Maya. The also would paint their pyramids shrine. To worship their god.

Anonymous said...

Julianna sterling
The plant dye was important to the Mayans because it added value to items which helped them in trading, because they had something other civilizations didnt. The dye was a part of their culture because it attracted outsiders to join the Maya culture.

Anonymous said...

robert stuetz
5/6 bdf
the natural source of dye is important beacuse the more valuable the dyes were the more they got from trading. The dye was apart of their culture beacause the dyes attracted people from other civilizations.

Anonymous said...

Emily Robinson
7/8 bdf
The natural plant dye is important because it can be less harsh to your skin and makes colors bright and colorful. The dye can also be past of their culture and a traditional thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Saige Oechsli PD.7-8 BDF

The use of natural dyes in the Mayan Civilization is largely incorporated into their culture. The dyes were used for coloring clothing, which may have been used to form a kind of social hierarchy. They were also used for creating paintings and murals, similar to the prehistoric cave drawings. Certain plant dyes could have also been associated with certain gods or religious beliefs. The Mayans used dyes in almost everything, and since the dyes were from plants (all natural) and lived in a rain forest ( which is covered in thick foliage and vegetation) they always had an abundance of materials to work with.

Unknown said...

the use of plants as a natural source of dye was important to the ancient Mayans because you could tell the different tribes apart or show royalty for like a king or queen with a purple robe or something of the sort.
the Mayans could of had a belief were there was a tradition to were certain colors on certain days of the month or week

Anonymous said...

The Ancient Mayans used natural dye's for fabrics, paintings, and body paint. This shaped the Mayan culture because they would use the body paint as a ritual which would mean that they had their own religious beliefs. The combination of colors on their cloths could have symbolized a wealth status or could have been used for certain traditions. Lastly, the dye's were used for paintings which would mean that they had value to people. So, in conclusion, the natural dye's were important to the Ancient Mayans and shaped their culture.

Anonymous said...

The last post on September 24, 2014 at 5:39 PM was from Hannah Burchard 7/8 BDF

Anonymous said...

Sayuri Velazco PD: 7/8 BDF
The natural dyes were important to the Mayans because it was used to separate the social classes. It also could have been used to make paintings and murals. The plant dyes do help form their culture. It did this because to them the dyes were valuable to either worship a god or follow a religious belief. The Mayans used the natural dye for everything and it is natural that it would have a big impact on their culture.

Unknown said...

John Maguire 7-8 bdf

The natural source of dye importance could be to use as face paint, a sign of religion to tell what culture, or what beliefs they have. It could also be as a drawing or as a decoration on a building.

Anonymous said...

The use of plants as a natural source of dye, was important to the Ancient Mayans because of their culture. The use of plant dyes does help shape the culture of the people because a lot of the Mayans use plant dyes so that shapes their traditions, and the plant dyes are very valuable to the Mayans.

Rachel Arion 5/6 BDF

Anonymous said...

Kade Johnson 5/6 BDF

The dyes were used for many different things. Such as bug repellent and to make items more valuable to sell and trade. The dye have become a part of the Maya culture because they can use different colors to represent the culture.

Anonymous said...

B-Randon Scholl 5BDF

The dyes were used for different reasons. some of the reasons are body paint, coloring cloth, and it added value to trading. And other places didnt have it so the dyes attracted people over and join there culture.

Anonymous said...

The Mayans used paint to show how up in society they were or to show what side they were on in war. It also brought color into everyday life and help spark ideas for religious reasons. It was also the first time we as humans used colors during celebrations and etc. Therefore color and dyes were a big part of their culture and environment.
Marilyn Chen Periods: 7-8BDF

Anonymous said...

The use of plants as natural dyes were important to the Ancient Mayans because they used them as bug repellents, clothing dyes, and for paintings murals upon walls. The use of plant dyes does help shape the culture of the people. The ancient people also used the dyes to distinguish which class a person was from.
Abdullah Siddiqui

Anonymous said...

The use of plants as natural dyes were important to the Ancient Mayans because they used them as bug repellents, clothing dyes, and for paintings murals upon walls. The use of plant dyes does help shape the culture of the people. The ancient people also used the dyes to distinguish which class a person was from.
Abdullah Siddiqui

Laila Libertin 7-8 BDF said...

The natural dye was very impotavt to the mayans and were used for many different things such as clothing, and paint. This helps shapes their culture in many different ways too. The paint could be use for painting faces and clothing was to separate classes of the people. For example the royals wore purple. The mayans had alot of knowledge because we still use almost the same system today.

Anonymous said...

The natural dyes were used for many purposes such as dye, paint for the body for religion/culture, and each class of people in the Mayas. The use of plant dyes do help shape the culture of the people because it puts them in classes and they are showing their beliefs/religion of their culture by wearing them(the dyes) on the body.

Sarah Runge
7/8 BDF

Anonymous said...

The natural dyes that they had used were important for many reasons. One reason they were important was because of their culture. It represents the way they live and do things. Another thing is that they could make money off of the things that they dyed.
-Emily Hanes