The 1-2s have been learning what archeologists do (and what makes them different from paleontologists). Our first practice was to "excavate" a trash can. The students knew it was from a room in the school but not which room. Mrs. M. carefully pulled each artifact from the trash can. At first, it was tough to tell from the evidence where exactly the trash can might have come from. An empty seltzer can and an empty staples box led us to believe it might be from the teacher's room. When a used band-aid was brought out, kids' thinking turned to Nurse Naser's office. Further inspection revealed a used tea bag and an empty yogurt container which seemed to point to a classroom. A final definitive clue - a post-it with the words "My Town Forest Group" followed by the names of some kids from 1-2A made our archeologists confident that this trash can had come from Mrs. A.'s classroom! This exercise helped the kids to see what tricky work archeology can be - how hard it is to learn about ancient civilizations when we only have things that were left behind.
Our archaeological work has continued with examining artifacts and photographs of items found in an actual dig - that of Olynthus, Greece. We looked at a floorplan from a Greek house called The Villa of Good Fortune and saw photographs of the actual dig site. The students are very excited to see what we will learn about life in Ancient Greece.
Ask your child what was found in the Andron (men's socializing rooms) and the kitchen.
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