Archaeology K-12 Educational Outreach

The Integrative Graduate and Research Traineeship (IGERT) Program of the National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Arizona a 5-year grant, which started in 2002. IGERT Trainees are graduate students on a PhD track, who wish to apply interdisciplinary techniques (from the geosciences, material sciences, chemical sciences and biological sciences) to archaeology. As part of the program, IGERT Trainees are asked to participate in community outreach programs. The interdisciplinary nature of the program demonstrates the versatility of archaeology as a tool to engage students while teaching core scientific principles.

Here are some powerpoint presentations, lesson plans and activities designed for the K-12 audience to understand basic ideas behind archaeology.

Powerpoint Library Activities/Lesson Plans Other Activities

Archaeology/Anthropology

Geoscience/Archaeometry

Elementary Level (K-5)

Middle School Level (6-8)

High School Level (9-12)

Archaeology webquest

Organic/Inorganic memory game

Other Reference Sites for Teachers

Outreach Goals:
  • Integrate archaeology into K-12 classroom lessons as a means of introducing culture, the scientific method, the chemistry and physical properties of materials, and biological change.
  • Create opportunities for graduate students to be active participants in K-12 education.
  • Foster effective teaching and a greater understanding of learning at all levels.

Current Outreach Projects:

**This site is under construction, please excuse our appearance**

Bonillas Elementary

(Mentor: Denise Durazo)
(Current Trainee: Katherine Dungan)

Katherine is continuing her outreach efforts from last year working with Denise to teach basic introductory archaeology concepts for late primary-schoolers.

 

City High School

(Mentor: Maria Luisa Ruiz Luna and Elliott Lax)
(Current Trainee: Jill Onken)

Jill is developing and teaching a Soils unit for the Field Studies class at City High School. This unit will be taught over a 5 week period next semester and will include 2 components. The first will focus on learning basic soil description and analysis both in the field (the City High garden, a Hohokam site) and in the classroom. The second component will involve planting native corn in different soils and recording the rate of growth. The students will analyze the soil surrounding the plantings and determine how the different soil traits affect soil fertility.

 

Esperanza Elementary School

(Mentor: Sara Chavarria & Amy Feldman, Art Teacher)
(Current Trainee: Joshua Reuther)

Josh is helping to develop materials for studying, recreating and interpreting rock art. Josh is also involved in helping his IGERT Outreach mentor, Dr. Sara Chavarria, and Esperanza Elementary art teacher Amy Feldman in developing an extracurricular archaeology club. The goal of the Esperanza Archaeology Club was to teach 3rd-5th grade students concepts in archaeology through the theme of art. Students learned how the Hohokam made pottery, shell carvings, petroglyphs, and rock art, and they learned about some reasons why the artists chose the design elements they did. The students created their own pottery, shell carvings, and painted petroglyphs and rock art on a paper mache cave (click on the picture to the left to see a slide show of this cave art project). Guest speakers included UA Anthropology graduate student Edmund Gaines demonstrating the fine art of flint knapping which really brought home to the students the amazing skill prehistoric people showed in making stone tools. The kids also learned excavation techniques at a mock archaeology site through Old Pueblo Archaeology Center emphasizing how archaeologists must excavate precisely in order to learn as much as possible from the artifacts that are uncovered. The club ended with a surprise and exciting visit from UA Anthropology Department Chair and Professor Dr. John Olsen, as the students painted their mock cave. Finally, as a part of club criteria, each student was also asked to write a reflective piece on what they enjoyed most about being a member of the club. Josh and Sara will be working on activities and lessons using ideas generated from the club.
Click on the picture to the left to see a slide show of the cave construction project.

 

Key To Employment Science Fair

(Mentor: Sara Chavaria )
(Current Trainee: J. Israel Favela)

During the fall Israel attended meetings for the Steering committee of the Key To Employment Science Fair.

 

Museum of Northern Arizona

(Mentor: )
(Current Trainee: Andrew Kowler)

Andrew is putting together a curriculum on Paleoclimate for the Museum of Northern Arizona, for docent-led tours of the museum. This will include the development of lesson plans relating to museum exhibits; this will help students to see archaeology in the larger context of paleoclimatic influence on human habitation/cultural development on the Colorado Plateau. These lesson plans are aimed at the 8th to 12th grade student. This is a long term project that Andrew hopes to continue working on even after his IGERT Traineeship has ended.

 

Palangana Nunamiut Collection

(Mentor: Mary Stiner )
(Current Trainee: Derek Anderson)

Derek has been identifying, packaging, and cataloging the Palangana Nunamiut Collection.

 

San Diego Archaeological Center

(Mentor: Dr. Margie Burton, Research Director)
(Trainee: Tammy Buonasera)

Tammy is currently involved in a NSF funded project at the San Diego Archaeological Center aimed at gaining a better understanding of how and why grinding tool assemblages in hunter-gatherer societies changed through time. The project will have experimental and archaeological components. The experimental component is based on methods used in previous ground stone experiments performed by Dr. Jenny Adams (Research Archaeologist, Desert Archaeology, Inc.) and on classic methods of experimental design. A set of 27 grinding experiments will vary tool material, tool form and resource type. These experiments will generate data on efficiency, ease of motion and use wear that will be applied to assemblages from Archaic and Late Prehistoric hunter-gatherer sites in San Diego County, a cultural sequence that is thought to be characterized by increasing social complexity and resource intensification and decreasing population mobility.

      Grinding experiments will be organized as a series of public classes, providing a collaborative learning experience for adult volunteers, and middle-school and high-school students that will emphasize the scientific process. Native Americans will contribute knowledge and expertise in traditional grinding methods that are important to the scientific results. In addition, their participation with other segments of the public in the experimental phase will help to promote understanding and appreciation of the San Diego region’s cultural heritage. Tammy will help supervise experiments, assist with experimental assessment and with training in identification and photo documentation of use-wear patterns.

 

Wildcat School

(Mentor: Mike Junio)
(Trainee: Jessica Conroy)

Jessica is creating a presentation for the 7th grade geology section to help them learn about local Tucson geology. She is also collecting rocks to create several sets of geological samples from around the southwest to accompany her presentation and for Mr Junio to use in future classes.

 

(Mentor:Ana Marie Schaecher)
(Trainee: Amy Clark)

Amy has been helping Ms. Schaecher to teach how researchers get information from the archaeological record about the Paleolithic and the formation of human culture. These outreach efforts have resulted in powerpoints and lesson plans.

 

Past Outreach Projects
 
    --- Designed and maintained by Lesley Frame
Last updated on July 28th, 2008