Description: A digital reconstruction of the ancient city of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), which was built on the lake of Texcoco, which has now been desiccated. It allows viewers to explore and compare the city’s relationship with water then and now.
Teaching ideas: This interactive digital reconstruction allows students to explore the model and then describe what they see, practicing the distinction between ser and estar to characterize the city’s geography, architecture, and spatial relationship with the lake. A comparison activity can then place the ancient city alongside images of present-day Mexico City, asking students to articulate what has changed and what traces remain, using comparative structures and vocabulary related to water, urban space, and nature. The reconstruction also invites reflection on what it would mean to live in a city built on water: students can write a short description imagining daily life in Tenochtitlan, using the imperfect tense to convey habitual and ongoing actions in the past. Finally, a group discussion can address broader questions about urban planning and environmental memory (should contemporary Mexico City recover any of its lacustrine character?) giving students the opportunity to practice expressing opinions, recommendations, and doubts through the subjunctive.