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Archaeology Traveling Trunks
January 12, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - How can a teacher ignite a spark of interest in students for the field of archaeology? Providing them with the opportunity to touch, feel, see and learn with real artifacts and replicas, or visit an excavation site would be a start.
The Antonio J. Waring, Jr. Archaeology Laboratory at the University of West Georgia has developed such instructional materials in its Traveling Teaching Trunk and an On-Site Mock Excavation.
Dr. Ray Crook, professor of anthropology and director of the lab, said, “These learning activities are designed to apply and reinforce student skills in language arts, science and mathematics.”
Each Traveling Teaching Truck contains a Teacher’s Guide, special activities developed around Georgia’s Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) requirements, and offer a hands-on introduction to archaeology for educators and students.
The
trunks are intended to bring the excitement of archaeology into the classroom
through a variety of innovative activities. Most of these can be adapted
to any age group; however, they were designed specifically to correlate
with the 3rd through 8th grade QCC requirements.
“The Traveling Trunks are available to be checked-out from the Waring
Laboratory by teachers in public, private and home schools,” said
Susan Fishman Armstrong, lab coordinator.
Through the efforts of Fishman-Armstrong and several UWG anthropology students, and under the guidance of Crook, the Waring Laboratory has developed two traveling teaching trunks. “What is Archaeology?” introduces students to many aspects of archaeological investigation and also the archaeology of Georgia. “A Mock Excavation” teaches students in their classroom about how archaeologists dig and record artifacts, and also provides exercises useful for their participation in the On-Site Mock Excavation.
The On-Site Mock Excavation is a field trip that may be scheduled with the Waring Laboratory. Students learn about archaeology through digging at the site especially created for their instruction. The On-Site Excavation teaches students about field archaeology and requires their use of mathematics, language arts, critical thinking and many other skills outlined in the QCC. Under careful supervision, students excavate, record and interpret what they find. The activities work well in conjunction with “A Mock Excavation” Teaching Trunk, but also can be scheduled as an unconnected field trip.
For more information, visit www.westga.edu/~ajwlab or call the Waring Archaeological Laboratory at 770-836-4303.
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