Welcome to TechKNOW Associates' Mesoamerica Calling! page. This project was developed by TechKNOW Associates for FutureKids. To download a copy of the project, you will need a userid and password. Please go to the Terms of Use page for more information.

TechKNOW Associates Corporation can provide expert, onsite staff development to insure that teachers and children fully implement this and other projects at a reasonable cost. We will train teachers in the classroom with their students, model lessons, and help them integrate technology into their curriculum through a project-based approach.

Links sometimes change. If you come across a bad link, please email our web master at webmaster@techknowassociates.com

New projects are being developed and added to our site on a regular basis. Visit often.

Once proud and mighty, a conquering hand,

Taming the valleys and ruling the land—

Spreading and building, you grasped hold of life,

Burning and killing, with warrior’s knife—

You long ago vanished, but left open a door,

For us to come seek you, to learn and explore!

Mesoamerica Calling!

For Grades 5 and 7*

The Mesoamerica Calling! project is a simulation in which your students are invited by the editors of an anthropology magazine to become cultural anthropologists as they learn first-hand about pre-Columbian indigenous cultures. Your students will “experience” the history, culture, and geography of Mesoamerica through the use of the Internet, web-based primary source materials, and other authentic artifacts, as they create products that demonstrate their understanding and creativity.

Mesoamerica Calling! is driven by the New York City and New York State content and performance standards of several disciplines with a focus on the New York State Social Studies learning standards. The project is designed to take advantage of the inherently curious nature of middle school learners by inviting them to use technology and other media to learn about the Aztec, Maya, Olmec, Toltec, and Zapotec cultures of Mexico and Guatemala. Your class will use the FUTUREKIDS Classroom Currents Language Arts materials to master the language, literacy, and technology skills necessary to complete this project.

The structure of the project encourages students to direct their own learning. It begins with a comprehensive introduction that assesses and augments their background knowledge, followed by two distinct but interrelated guided learning phases:

• Phase One: Encountering Mesoamerican Cultures: Students will work cooperatively to conduct in-depth research on five Mesoamerican cultures. They will create graphic organizers, maps, and multimedia presentations to exhibit their findings.

• Phase Two: Exploring Mesoamerican Art and Architecture: Students will conduct research on the art and architecture produced by Mesoamerican cultures. Each cooperative group will create a virtual tour of an archeological site that includes references to art and other artifacts based on archeological evidence.

The culminating event will be an opportunity for students to exhibit their work. They will present what they have learned and display their related projects to invited guests.

To download a copy of this project, you will need a userid and password. Please go to the Terms of Use page for more information. If you have a userid and password, click here.

For additional Internet resources, click here.