Archaeology

Spontaneous Problem: Name things you can catch.

Boundary Breaker: After watching the You Can Learn Anything Video, students responded with the idea about learning that struck them the most.

We also added a new element to our morning Morphic Thinking Routine by learning to hunt out patterns in our Set Game tutorial.

Today may have been the best yet!  Our big focus was on Archaeology.  We read the book Archaeologists Dig for Clues by Kate Duke.  That gave us insights into how archaeology is done. Then students were able to model the organized process by simulating a dig site, dividing it into coordinate squares, excavating, and recording the location of artifacts that were discovered.  Our "dig site" just happened to be a pan of cosmic brownies. 

Here are the key takeaways:

• Archaeologist don't just dig holes, but carefully organized and measured grid squares.
• Most excavated finds look more like trash than treasure.
• Archaeologist work slowly and carefully with small tools that won't damage their finds.
• Careful record keeping is a must.  Knowing where something was found can help explain why it was there and what it was used for.
• An artifact is anything that has been made by man.  
• Midden is ordinary waste from archaic life.
• A feature is archaeological evidence of a place or dwelling.
• All artifacts are carefully bagged and numbered to be taken to the laboratory.
• Carefully mapping your findings in an area helps give a bigger picture of what the space looked like years ago.
• In the lab, artifacts are carefully measured, examined, and tested.  Archaeologists spend more time in a lab than at a dig site.

We also were able to prepare further for our upcoming field study by doing some research and activities using our chromebooks and Nearpod software.  Students build their archaeology vocabulary and knowledge of tools of the trade.  We also took a sneak peek at our field study guides and expectations for the trip.