Summer SAVY, Session 3 Day 5, “Archeology 101: Unearthing Secrets of the Past” (1st-2nd)
Happy Friday! Today was our BIG DIG! We had a great time excavating artifacts. Ms. Lily joined us and ensured that our processes were similar to those of professional archaeologists. Ask your student which artifacts they excavated and what information those artifacts gave us!
We had lots of fun, but we also realized that the work of an archeologist is methodical, detailed, and tough. It requires patience, grit, and lots of connecting research to evidence from a dig. After our dig, we brought the artifacts back to our classroom laboratory. We analyzed the artifacts, considered their possible uses, and researched the culture to support our analysis. We explored how culture is a system and learned that information about ancient cultures can inform us about what life was like in the past. We tried to connect the artifacts to ancient culture, like the pottery pieces to those of Ancient Greeks. We discussed how the location of the artifacts in the soil horizon could help us age artifacts and aid in determining if the artifacts are of importance or just plain old trash.
Finally, we prepared a written opinion piece and shared it with the class. We had to use what we learned about the artifacts from the dig site to determine if the construction of the new school should continue or if it should be shut down and marked as a dig site. It came as no surprise to us that the museum and local community members might be interested in further exploring the site in search of more information about people and life in the past! One friend thought that the school should be built because students needed a place to learn! There are always hard decisions to be made as an archaeologist!
In your child’s backpack, you will find their field notebook (an archaeologist’s most important tool!), a student workbook, and a fiction text so they can continue their archeological journey at home! Select pages from the workbook have been completed, and you may choose to explore the pages that are not completed if you’re interested in discovering additional topics that we did not cover. As archaeologists, we know that there is always more to learn!
Thank you for making this such a WONDERFUL week of learning! We hope to see you again at another SAVY class soon!
Warmly,
Ms. Courtney and Ms. Andrea
