Subject: Social Studies
Date: October 10, 2001
Jill Weaver, Lori Elliott, Jennifer Case
Unit: Ancient Civilizations
Lesson: Archeological Dig
General Goal:
Introduce children to pre-historic
people. The purpose of this lesson
is to provide students with
experience in analyzing artifacts
and relics and constructing a
hypothetical scenario describing a
pre-historic culture.
What is archaeology?
The science of how we learn about the past
by studying artifacts.
What is an Artifact?
An artifact is any object
that was made by or
altered by humans for
some purpose or task.
Concept List
•
•
•
•
•
Archeology
Artifacts
Petroglyphs
Pre-historic Culture
Relics
Specific Objectives
• Given a simulated archeological dig, students will
demonstrate their ability to work in cooperative groups to
achieve specified goals.
• Given a thirty minute time-period, students will correctly
identify items “found” at the archeological dig on a student
worksheet using their class notes.
• Given time during the dig and ten minutes after the dig,
students will collectively discuss their findings within the
group and report these finding together to the class.
Objectives continued...
• Given a bag containing the items found at the dig
site and some art supplies, students will draw a
picture depicting a settlement represented by the
items.
• Given a multiple choice, T/F, and short essay
exam on information presented in class or at the
dig site, students will correctly answer the exam
with 85% accuracy.
Activities:
Want to have some fun?
• Concept Pre-assessment: Give students a
definitions matching quiz.
• A-V Materials: 10-minute PBS movie
“American Scrapbook”
• Simulations: “archeological dig”
So you say you want more?
• Readings: Text reading, Origin stories
• Student projects: drawing/petroglyph,
worksheet, group/class presentations
Materials
Here is what we will need…
•
•
•
•
•
Pre-assessment matching quiz.
PBS movie “American Scrapbook”
Worksheet, “artifacts”, and pencil
Text
Brown Paper, chalk, charcoal, and fixitive for each
student
• Final quiz
• Power point presentation with informal class quiz
Evaluations:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pre-assessment matching quiz
Observation – group work
Student worksheet
Group Presentation
Drawing/Depiction of Petroglyph
Final Test
Websites
http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/flint/foodquiz.html
Could you survive as a hunter gatherer? Would you eat this?
Let’s go on an electronic field
trip…
http://www.crowcanyon.org/electronicfieldtrip
How about a game?
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~susankae/sunwatch.htm
Would you like to visit the sunwatch village?
Go ahead, ask me anything!
• http://dig.archaeology.org/drdig/native/7.html
Rock Art
http://aztec.asu.edu/aznha/palatki/palatki.html
Lets look at a field guide of rock art symbols…
Now for the fun stuff!
No really, how about a short
quiz?
Don’t stress, this will be a group
effort!
Which of the following is not a
definition for the word dig?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The excavation of an archaeological site
Making a critical remark to someone
A person’s house or apartment
A drawing of an archaeological site
The answer is…
D. A drawing of an archaeological site
Thomas Jefferson was never…
A.
B.
C.
D.
The third president of the United States
An archaeologist
An English General
The author of the Declaration of Independence
The answer is…
C. An English General
In archaeology a site filled with
garbage is called a _______.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Dump
Coprolite
Midden
Landfill
The answer is…
C. Midden
What is a sieve?
A. A tool archaeologists use to dig for artifacts
B. A tool archaeologists use to clean artifacts
C. A tool archaeologists use to separate and find
small artifacts in large amounts of sand or gravel
D. A tool used to repair broken artifacts
The answer is…
C. A tool archaeologists use to separate and find
small artifacts in large amounts of sand or gravel
Most ancient pottery found by
archaeologists was made of?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Silver or gold
Glass
Clay and straw
Plastic
The answer is...
C. Clay and straw
Good Job!
The End
Just
kidding!