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Rock Art
Fourth graders examine and interpret rock art to illustrate its importance in the cultural heritage of a people and as a tool for learning about the past. They create their own rock art that is a symbol of their culture.
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Dig This Dinosaur Relief Lesson
Students create low-fire ceramic relief sculptures of dinosaur bones. They incorporate art history, aesthetics, and criticism with hands on activity. Students work together to draw an enlarged skeleton on butcher paper. The Stegosaurus...
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Introduction to Archaeology
Students view a PowerPoint presentation called, Archaeological Terms then discuss the job of an archaeologist and new vocabulary. They view the teacher made "artifact grid" and photograph the grid from different angles. They work in...
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GPS Art
Students design their own logo or picture and use a handheld GPS receiver to map it out. They write out a word or graphic on a field or playground, walk the path, and log GPS data. The results display their "art" on their GPS receiver...
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Archaeology Quiz
In this archaeology quiz worksheet, students complete 4 multiple choice questions about general archaeology concepts. An answer link is included.
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Rock Art and Ritual
Students explore, examine and determine what kinds of rock art motifs are likely the product of ancient ritual descent. They identify connections between rock art symbolism and Native American ritual practices. Each student also views a...
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Art Around the World
Eleventh graders explore the art styles of different cultures by researching and then creating a "museum exhibit".
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Time Line Of Chinese And Japanese Art
Students create individual time lines placing various works of Asian art into chronological order. The information gathered is used to create one class time line for display.
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 2 - Grades 4-6
Class members will dig this activity that has them trying their hand at recovering artifacts. Groups are assigned a section of a sandbox, carefully uncover the artifacts in their section, and then develop theories about who might have...
Channel Islands Film
Cache: Lesson Plan 3 - Grades 4-5
Should the excavation of what is believed to be the cave of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island be allowed to continue? As a practice exercise designed to prepare pupils for a timed writing exam, individuals read two Los Angeles Times...
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Wreck Detectives
Students investigate shipwrecks. In this marine archaeology lesson ,students collect data and make inferences about the causes of shipwrecks. Students work in groups to create their own model of a shipwreck using clay. Students then...
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Saving the Past for the Future
Students discuss an archaeological dilemma. They write a paragraph about possible solutions to the problem.
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Art to Zoo: Celebration
Students research and develop a report on birthday rituals around the world. In this research lesson plan, students compare birthday rituals from other cultures to their own. Images and resources are included.
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Digging for Clues
Make critical and creative thinkers out of your class, with an archeology-based project they'll love. They start the activity by first researching what archeologists do, then they generate a list of the qualities archeologists need to be...
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How To Think Like An Archaeologist
High schoolers take a field trip to historical Jamestown. Using artifacts given to them, they must identify them and discover who would have used them and for what purpose. They create a database to organize the information and share...
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Utah Archaeology
Young scholars use Play-dough explore different types of fossils and examine how fossils are evidences of past life.
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Archaeology 2500: Texano Weapons
Students listen to oral story describing mystery artifact, work in groups to write descriptive report of artifact, and creatively form hypothesis based purely on misinterpretation. Students then explore and discuss difficulty of...
National First Ladies' Library
Digging up the Past: Sir Arthur Evans and the Palace at Knossos
Middle schoolers explore the excavations of the Palace of Knossos on the Island of Crete. They create a simulated news broadcasting on the work of Sir Arthur Evans and his colleges. In their news investigation, learners cover such topics...
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Social Studies: Exploring Boston's Big Dig
Students, in a high school class for autistic children, take a virtual tour of Boston's "Big Dig" and the artifacts discovered there. During weekly lab sessions, they discover the processes involved in artifact preservation. Using...
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Cyberspace Safari
Middle schoolers go on an information gathering hunt on the Internet to study West African empires. They work in teams; meteorologists, bankers, writers, and archaeologists. They collect data on all sorts of topics related to West...
Time Warp Trio
The Caveman Catastrophe
Young archaeologists study the development of human history, and work in groups to create a timeline that traces the development of humans. Additionally, the groups utilize a very clever graphic organizer embedded in the plan in order to...
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Digging Into the Past
Students participate in an excavation simulation, and explore the ruins of Sardis. They ponder which clues scientists use to determine if artifacts found in the excavation are of Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, or Lydian origin.
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Jamestown: A Brief History
Eighth graders investigate the history of the United States by researching Jamestown. In this archaeological lesson, 8th graders attend a field trip to historical Jamestown in Virgina to discover key figures that formed our country....
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The Dawn of Humanity
Students investigate recent archaeological challenges to theories of human origins. They research the history and geography of various African regions to create proposals for future excavations.