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Lesson Design Archaeology
Students participate in their own excavation and measure and record as they go. For this archaeology lesson students divide into groups and solve the mystery of what they uncovered in their dig box.
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Interpreting the Evidence
Young scholars find out about the social changes that caused the collapse of important ancient civilizations in Central America, Mesopotamia, the southwestern United States, and western Africa.
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Mapping and Excavating a Jello Mold
Learners simulate how archaeologists excavate sites by "searching" their own site in the form of a Jello mold. They use a grid to map the objects in the Jello mold as well as looking at three layers of Jello to understand stratigraphy...
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Digging up the Past
Students explore history through archaeology. In this critical analysis instructional activity, students work in teams to recreate a model of the archaeological discoveries made in the excavations at Monticello. This instructional...
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Site Formation In Archaeology
Pupils look at the findings of a Hopi Indian dig site in order to reconstruct the sequence of events that occurred in the past. They examine the stratigraphy while making multiple hypothesis about the artifacts and their locations at the...
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Transparent Shoebox Dig
Take this simulated archaeological dig one layer at a time with your young pupils to encourage observation, critical thinking, and careful attention. Using a transparent box full of layers of sand and artifacts, pupils examine the...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 3
Imagine being part of a team of scientists that discover the oldest human remains in North America. Imagine being part of the crew that documents this discovery. Class members get a change to be part of such an exciting adventure in a...
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Artifacts of Wisconsin's Pre-european Cultures
Students research forms of artistic expression in four cultures. They create a representation of art from one of the cultures and create museum information cards. They develop a rubric to evaluate each others work.
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Tag It and Bag It: Archeology Lab Lesson
Seventh graders practice analyzing, collecting and categorizing artifacts. Using charts, they organize and interpret information about the artifacts they classified. They work together to create a graph to represent class totals and...
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Stratigraphy and Cross-Dating
Students interpret archaeological strata using the law of superposition. They apply cross-dating to determine the age of other artifacts.
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Social Studies:Anglo-Saxon Dress Accessories
Students discover the materials and designs used by Anglo-Saxons. By examining an ancient village, they determine materials and shapes most frequently used to make brooches and strap fittings. Finally, students draw pictures of the...
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Archeology: Weapons of the Texanos
Students develop archaeological context skills through a simulation which places them in the year 2500. After listening to the teacher read, "Weapons of the Texanos," they record what they think the weapon is. Next, in groups, they...
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Ceramics: A Vessel into History
High schoolers create a personal clay vessel that has a specific use or meaning in their contemporary culture, which could be discerned through study by future archeologists and art historians.
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Archeological Finds
Learners explore archeology and it contributions to human history. They write a magazine article describing the discovery of a dig.
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The Uluburun Shipwreck Project: Interconnections through Trade in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean World
Ninth graders examine causes and effects of the Uluburun shipwreck. In groups, they develop their own ways to categorize the artifacts found on the ship and decide on the research questions they are going to focus on. They use the...
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"Adding It Up" at James Fort
Students discuss jettons and their archaeological importance at Jamestown. They then practice using historic counting sheets and artifacts to understand the calculating methods of the early 17th Century, and identify their similarities...
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Make a Paper Mache Bowl
Students create a paper mache bowl. In this paper mache lesson, students use wallpaper paste, newspapers, and paint brushes to construct a paper mache bowl. Students decorate their bowl with unique designs.
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Site Robbers
Fourth graders interview a Native American and write a newspaper article or letter that expresses concern about robbing archaeological sites.
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Sculptural Statistics
Students conduct an experiment to determine the frequency of pulling various parts of an ancient Greek sculpture out of a hat.