The Mayan people made so many important discoveries that have impacts even today! You and I might not see math as it is today without them.

The Mayans created the most sophisticated math system ever developed in the Americas.

Unlike the way we count, the Mayans used a base 20 system instead of a base 10 system-- so they used 20 different symbols before they got to what we'd call a double-digit number!

Let's start with zero! Did you know that the Mayans were the first known civilization to invent the idea of the number zero?

The zero looks just like a shell!

A one is one dot. That's pretty easy to remember!

A two is just two dots-- basically, one twice!

Just like two, a three is three dots, or three ones.

I bet you could guess what four is...

You guessed it! Four is just four more dots. Pretty easy so far!