Curated OER
Leaarn to Think Like an Archaeologist
Students examine how to act as archaeologists by examining artifacts. The inquiry is meant to teach learners about analysis of ancient civilizations and scientific finds. Fossil evidence is also covered to make connection to the...
Curated OER
Using Artifacts to Engage Students in Critical Thinking Activities
Creating learning centers with artifact-related activities are a great way to promote deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills.
Curated OER
"How to Think Like an Archaeologist" - Suggested Pre-Visit Activity For Historic Jamestown
Pupils examine how archaeologists use artifacts to explore other people and their cultures. They discuss types of artifacts, analyze receipts for clues, and discuss how what the items bought reflect about people.
Curated OER
What Can We Learn From the Past?
What would future archeologists learn from your scholars' personal belongings? Have them bring in a box of "primary sources" from their home. Discuss the difference between observations and inference, using some of your own items to...
Curated OER
Archaeologists Reveal King Tut's Mummy
Students look at pictures of a sarcophagus, then read a news article about King Tut's mummy. For this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion, pictures, and a vocabulary activity, then students read...
Curated OER
Archeologists For a Day
Students listen to a reading about fossils and go on a hunt for items with fossil characteristics. In this cross curricular fossil lesson, students will examine their fossil finds and create a graphic organizer. Students listen to...
Curated OER
Lesson: Snake Handling
Are the studies of art and archeology connected? You bet they are! Young scholars research the ancient temples of Mexico by visiting an archaeology site. They describe the various temples they see, taking note of shapes, stairs, details,...
Curated OER
How To Think Like An Archaeologist
Students 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 it with...
Curated OER
I Can Be An Archaeologist Book Share
Students read and discuss the book, I Can Be An Archaeologist by Robert B. Pickering, and become archaeologists, themselves, as they examine, sort, and record items in a paper bag and trash from their classroom, as well as 2 others.
Curated OER
Basics of Archaeology
Students identify what and how to complete an Archaeological excavation is conducted. They identify the transition from one layer to the next more easily if the colors of the layers are different. When creating a dig, the teacher...
American Museum of Natural History
Making a Field Journal
Trowels and brushes are certainly important tools for an archaeologist working on a dig. Perhaps more important, however, is the archaeologist's field journal. Christina Elson, an archaeologist working with the American Museum of Natural...
American Museum of Natural History
Piecing It All Together
Archaeology digs are much like giant jigsaw puzzles. The artifacts found are often in pieces and scientists must reconstruct them. A hands-on activity lets young archaeologists experience this facet of the job as they create, smash, and...
American Museum of Natural History
Create Your Own Time Capsule
The corona virus pandemic is indeed a historic event. A time capsule activity permits young historians to document these days of social distancing, remote learning, and quarantine by collecting artifacts that capture what their lives are...
Curated OER
"how To Think Like an Archaeologist" Suggested Pre-visit Activity for Historic Jamestowne
Students study grocery receipts to simulate the archaeological activity of classifying items. They discuss the receipts as if they were find lists.
Curated OER
Fossils Lesson 4 - Who Are Some Famous Fossil Hunters and What Are Their Finds?
Students research and develop a presentation about a famous fossil hunter/archaeologist. In this fossil hunter/archaeologist instructional activity, students listen to a reading of Don Brown's, Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her...
American Museum of Natural History
Mint Your Own Coin
Provide young archaeologists with an opportunity to craft their own artifacts. The step-by-step directions in an engaging resource show them how to mint their own coin, complete with image, date, and motto.
American Museum of Natural History
If Trash Could Talk
Trash can talk! Young archaeologists dig through their trash to see what it reveals about their lives. After they examine their midden, links permit users to test their knowledge of archaeology with a 10-questions quiz, learn how...
Curated OER
You are the Archaeologist
Kids can practice their observation and evidence-based argument skills with a fun and engaging look at artifacts. With a given set of objects, each child will sketch and describe the object, then partners work together to determine...
American Museum of Natural History
Make Your Own Paper
Paper, paper everywhere. Paper is so prolific that few think about where the idea for it originated and how it is made. Introduce young readers to the paper-making process with an activity that lets them create their own.
Curated OER
Archaeology at Woods Canyon Pueblo
Eighth graders research information about the archaeology at Woods Canyon Pueblo, identifying different terminology. Students make a hypothesis about why the ancient Pueblo people chose to live. Students conducts research to support...
Curated OER
Scaffolded Reading of "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave in Situ"
The class reads the description of the "Drawing of an African Burial Ground Grave In Situ" then completes a work sheet. They act like archaeologists and answer a series of critical thinking questions to better understand the historical...
Curated OER
Sand & Water: Shape Search
Students act as amateur archaeologists as they participate in their own "dig" to explore and record unusual shapes. In this shape exploration lesson, students use trowels and shovels to dig, and learn to sift the dirt with screens to...
Curated OER
The Sporting Life
Students read and discuss "When the Games Began: Olympic Archaeology," examining the significance of the first Olympic Games in Greece. They research and reenact scenes from these Games and reflect on the Games' original importance.
Curated OER
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...