The
"Mixtec
Cultural Discovery Box" - a collection of fifteen
items of realia and ancillary instructional activities - was
made available for check out and use in San Diego classrooms
in Fall, 2004. Developed by ISTEP and the Center for Latin
American Studies at San Diego State University, the box was
created to present the rich and proud heritage of the Mixtec,
one of Mexico's sixty-four distinct indigenous peoples, and
to help dispel the erroneous perception of Mexico as a single,
homogeneous culture.
This fall we're
celebrating the launch of a virtual version of the Mixtec
Discovery Box. Now educators everywhere can access the materials,
on demand. The virtual box is housed on a "moodle"
hosted by the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC)
at San Diego State University.
To view the pages,
Quicktime
must be installed on the computer. Quicktime can be downloaded
for free.
The moodle version
attempts to replicate the learning through hands-on investigation
approach of the actual Mixtec box and its artifacts. Once
the moodle has loaded on the computer, the page displays a
map of Mexico and the word "Introduction" surrounded
by a circle of fifteen icons. Each icon is a photo of one
of the Discovery Box's fifteen artifacts.
Instructions:
1. Go to: http://larc.sdsu.edu/moodleLARC/
2. Scroll down to
"Mixtec Culture Box"
3. Click on 
icon to visit the site as a guest.
Click on the player
at the bottom of the map for a short audio-video presentation
about the Mixtec people, their homeland, the "Mixteca"
region and a brief explanation of the activity.
After viewing the
Introduction, click on any one of the object icons in the
circle. A new page will open with several thumbnail photos
of the object and a list of questions to guide the investigation.
Click on the thumbnails for enlarged views of the object.
Respond to each of the questions, then click on the video
to see how your answers compare with the explanation provided.
In an instructional
context, students can work independently or in small groups,
with each group responsible for investigating one of the objects.
There are now three
distinct "hard" version Cultural Discovery Boxes:
Mixtec, Yucatec Maya, and Zapotec. These continue to be available
for check out to San Diego County educators through the Center
for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University (contact:
Lynn Eddy-Zambrano, 619 594-8748, leddyz@projects.sdsu.edu)
and the Museum of Man at Balboa Park (contact: Jennifer Shinall,
619 239-2001, jshinall@museumofman.org.)
