Curated OER
Mending Pottery
Learners act as archaeologist and mend broken pottery to see what they can learn.
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Hatching Chickens
Students observe chicks hatching from eggs. In this science lesson plan, students view a video to develop an understanding of the proper care and needs of eggs and live animals. This is a great precursor activity for hatching eggs in class.
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Roots: The Ancestry of Modern People
High schoolers investigate the models for the origin of modern humans and the conditions that facilitate speciation and evolution. The classification and nomenclature of hominid species is also examined.
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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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Making a Fossilized Egg
Students explore fossils by participating in an in class experiment. In this archaeology lesson, students utilize dough and classroom objects to create fossil imprints after hiding the toy/fossil in the dough egg. Students categorize the...
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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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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
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...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Skeletons Reveal Human and Chimpanzee Evolution
Ardipithecus ramidus shares features with both humans and chimpanzees. Learn about where Ardi, humans, and chimps fit in the tree of life by comparing anatomical features including the foot, pelvis, and teeth. After exploring those...
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Sunken Slave Ship
Learners investigate shipwrecks. In this marine archaeology lesson plan, students create the site of a shipwreck by using a tub filled with sand and items from a "ship". Learners excavate the site and analyze the findings.
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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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Stonehenge: Solving Ancient Mysteries
Learners explore archeologists and anthropologists and the tools and methods they use to gather and interpret scientific evidence. They research current archaeological excavations and contact the scientists working at these digs.
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Tree-Ring Dating
In this tree-ring dating worksheet, students use activity sheets to determine a tree's age and to observe changes in climate from the tree-rings. Students investigate how archaeologists use tree rings to date evidence and they answer 5...
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You Can Dig It!
Students act as archeologists to examine, describe and hypothesize about 'artifacts' they have been given for their archeological interpretation. They rely on the descriptions and hypotheses of other students to identify the 'artifacts'...
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The Forgotten Cities
Students recognize and identify gaps in historical and archaeological evidence and how that evidence is interpreted. They explore the history of the Indus cities and identify what was left behind that survived for archaeologists to find...
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Frosty the Snowman Meets His Demise: An Analogy to Carbon Dating
Students read and discuss an article about carbon dating, then participate in a hands-on lab to discover how carbon dating works. Students also write a letter to a friend explaining the process, and how archeologists use the process to...
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Oceans Away
Students explore oceans. In this science lesson plan, students locate oceans, seas and continents of the world, identify ocean-related occupations, and complete activities pertaining to food chains as well as pollution.
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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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Archaeology is ...
Students demonstrate the importance of context for learning about ancient people. They assess the importance of preservation of cultural resources. They exchange papers with a student in class. The students with the paper are responsible...
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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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Touch the Past: Archaeology of the Upper Mississippi River Region
Students examine the archeology of the Mississippi River Valley. Using the internet, they expand their research to include how the Native Americans in California used plants to meet their needs. They also research a Native American...
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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...
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 Detectives
Students experience exploring an archaeological site utilizing various archaeological methods and techniques to help them synthesize multiple aspects of past life and culture to today. They explore what an archaeologist can learn from an...