Mixtec Discovery Box

The "Mixtec Cultural Discovery Box" is a collection of fifteen items of realia and ancillary instructional activities. It has two versions:

1. A Physical
2. A Virtual or Online

Physical Version

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. It was first made available for check out and use in San Diego classrooms in Fall 2004.

There are now three distinct "hard" version Cultural Discovery Boxes:

1. Mixtec
2. Yucatec Maya
3. Zapotec

These continue to be available for check out to San Diego County educators through either:

1. The Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University
• Contact Name: Lynn Eddy-Zambrano
• Phone: 619 594-8748
• Email: leddyz@projects.sdsu.edu


2. The Museum of Man at Balboa Park
• Contact Name: Jennifer Shinall
• Phone:619 239-2001
• Email: jshinall@museumofman.org

Online or Virtual Version

In Fall 2007 we celebrated 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.

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.

To view the pages,Quicktime must be installed on the computer. Quicktime can be downloaded for free.

Instructions:

1. Go to: http://larc.sdsu.edu/moodleLARC/
2. Scroll down to "Mixtec Culture Box".
3. Click on the words or the face icon to visit the site as a guest.
4. Click on the player at the bottom of the map for an Introduction, a short audio-video presentation about the Mixtec people, their homeland, the "Mixteca" region and a brief explanation of the activity.
5. Then 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.
6. Click on the thumbnails for enlarged views of the object.
7. Respond to each of the questions
8. 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.

Last Update: 22-Oct-2008