Subject:                              Time:  10:16
  OFFICE MEMO         MayaExperts wanted                    Date:  10/17/94
 
MayaQuest, an interactive expedition, with an audience of over 50,000 schools
seeks Maya experts.
In February of 1995, a team of cyclists and archeologists will begin a three
month expedition into the Maya world of Central America and Mexico.  Their
objective is to shed light on the collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization.
 
   The team will travel with laptop computers, EXEC*SAT satellite modems and
a connection to the Prodigy Service.   Through Prodigy's real time surveying
capabilities, kids will vote on the team's route and help decide which sites
to visit.  The team will go on-line twice weekly to post the vote and
download the response.  Prodigy will build a major feature around the
expedition for classroom use; CNN Newsroom will air weekly reports on the
team's progress.
    Eleven archeologists who plan to be in the field between February and May
have agreed to collaborate with the team and interact with classrooms.  The
idea is to get experts to not only answer questions, but to ask them--thus
giving credibility to kid's insight and research skills.   Each week the team
will visit a different site.  The attendant Mayanist will be asked to provide
a pivotal question at the core of their research.  The team will post the
question and classrooms around the country will try to answer it.  A staff
member at MayaQuest's base station will filter out the best answers and
E-mail them, via the EXEC*SAT, to the experts in the field.  As archeologist
Dr. Peter Dunham commented, "Perhaps these students won't give us the right
answer but they might get us thinking in a direction that leads to the right
answer."
     MayaQuest is seeking more experts with a background in the ancient Maya.
between February and May, 1995 who would collaborate with the project.
Alternatively, we would welcome collaboration from any Maya expert who would
interact with the classroom audience, answer questions or offer ideas.
Each week an archeologist will pose a question that would be sent to 1000
classrooms They will spend the following week coming up with answers.  They
would in turn be forwarded to our panel of experts in the hopes that the
better ones would shed light on the mysteries of the Mayan civilization.
 
Please respond to [log in to unmask] with a brief description of
your expertise.
 
 
MayaQuest
Steve Buettner
529 S 7th Street
Suite 310
Minneapolis MN 55415
612-349-6606
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