Ahead of time:
Identify a site in your school yard, where the students can conduct a survey. Students will be working in groups of 4 or 5 to survey a site and record artifact locations, so make sure you have enough space to set up 5 or 6 artifact sites. If you do not have access to outdoor field areas, a gym or courtyard area can be used.
Open the bag of artifacts provided in your Green Box. Divide the artifacts roughly evenly to be distributed at each artifact site to be surveyed by each group. Set up your field area, so that each group will have artifacts to map.
Activity Facilitation:
Divide students into groups of 4 or 5. Each group should be equipped with a quadrat grid, a transect tape, a notebook, and something to write with. If you allow phone use for photo taking, that might be a nice addition.
Follow instructions in Engage module to complete the activity with students.
After students have collected data and mapped their site, return to the classroom. Each group can report out about what they found at their site and how it was arranged. Probe their thinking by asking them to hypothesize what might have been going on thousands of years ago, at the site they surveyed. Ideas might include a cooking fire, seed sorting, animal processing after a hunt, etc. Make sure they use evidence from their site to make their claim, as this will prepare them for the next section.
Ahead of time:
THIS ACTIVITY CAN GET MESSY.
This activity requires access to a sink or a hose. A water sources is required. It can be done in a lab setting with sink or outdoors with a hose.
Each group should be equipped with: Bucket, Strainer, Set of four clips (teacher's help needed), Cheesecloth, Soil mixture, Wooden spoon, Artifact guide. Setting up each work site with these materials ahead of time may be beneficial, depending on time constraints.
Soil samples should arrive pre-mixed and portioned. You may need to mix or create additional soil samples, so that each sample includes charcoal bits, seeds, and other organic material.
Activity Facilitation:
Students may stay in groups from survey activity. Set up the activity by stating that they soil samples were taken from the sites they surveyed outside, so that all of the data they are collecting adds to one story about the site. (i.e. What can both the artifacts and the material they find in the soil tell us about what may have been happening at that site?)
Follow instructions in the Activity 2 module to complete the activity with students.
After students have completed the float analysis, return to the classroom. Each group can report out about what they found in their soil samples. Probe their thinking by asking them to hypothesize what might have been going on thousands of years ago, at the site from which they sampled. Ideas might include a cooking fire, seed sorting, animal processing after a hunt, etc. Make sure they use evidence from their site to make their claim, as this will prepare them for the next section.
Once students have engaged in activities, they need time to EXPLORE ideas. EXPLORE activities are designed so all students have common, concrete experiences which can be used later when formally introducing and discussing scientific and technological concepts and explanations. Students have time to investigate objects, events, or situations. As a result of their mental and physical involvement in these activities, students question events, observe patterns, identify and test variables, and establish causal relationships.
The teacher’s role in the EXPLORE phase is to facilitate learning. They initiate activities and allow time and opportunity for students to investigate objects, materials, and situations. The teacher coaches and guides students as they record and analyze observations or data and begin constructing models or initial explanations.
STUDENT BEHAVIORS
Tests predictions and hypotheses; Forms new predictions and hypotheses
Discusses problems with others
Plans and conducts investigations in which they observe, describe, and record data
Tries different ways to solve a problem or answer a question
Creates initial models
Compares ideas with those of others
TEACHING STRATEGIES
Provides or clarifies questions or problems
Provides common experiences
Observes and listens to students as they interact
Acts as a consultant for students
Encourages student-to-student interaction
Asks probing questions to help students make sense of their experiences and redirect them when necessary
Provides time for students to puzzle through problems