CMAC: State News & Challenge 1 (January 9)

Things to research about your assigned state:

1. Official name
2. Capital 
3. Governor (with political party)
4. Senators (with political party)
5. Number of Deputees in Congress (and how many per political party)
6. Largest city (with municipalities)
7. Total population (with year)
8. Total area (in km2)
9. Climates
10. Geographical features (mountains, valleys, volcanoes)
11. Main bodies of water
12. Flag & Shield (with year of creation and description of symbols)
13. Typical dress (with description, and if possible, the year of creation)
14. Famous people from there (alive and dead)
15. Cultural features (specific celebrations, languages, or characteristics)
16. Brief description of the state's economy (imports, exports, GDP total, and GDP as percentage of the national GDP)
17. Two local news outlets

When you finish, compare your results with one of your classmates.

Challenge 1, for Friday, January 12:

Interview a foreigner and bring up the following topics:

• How Mexico makes them feel
• Three words they associate with Mexico
• Three issues they consider to be problematic about Mexico
• Three positive characteristics they associate with Mexico
• Three words to define Mexicans
• How their perception of Mexico changed after they came here
• Similarities and differences between their home country and Mexico
• Mexican cultural features they find the most interesting.
• What they would say to Mexicans as a whole, if given the opportunity to do so

In pairs: Record the above interview (audio or video is fine, and it may happen in any language that is convenient for the person you are interviewing), and write a 500-word essay where you answer the following question: How did your own perception of Mexico change before and after your interview with a foreigner? 

Turn in the essay through Blackboard. Upload a Word document with the essay and a Dropbox or Google Drive link to the recording of your interview. 

The grade for this challenge will be 20% the recording, 30% the presence of a clear main idea that includes both team members' answers to the question, 20% for the logical development of this main idea into the body of the essay, 20% for a logical conclusion to your answer to the question, and 10% for respecting the 500-word limit. 

If the link to the recording doesn't work or the essay file is corrupted, your grade will be zero. If you assignment doesn't have your name, your grade will be zero. If there are issues within your team, only communications through official channels (specifically your Tec e-mail) will be considered evidence of wrongdoing. Whatsapp screenshots, screenshots from any other app, and personal e-mails will not be considered evidence of wrongdoing in a team assignment.