Discuss what an artifact is and explore how information about a civilization can be gained through studying artifacts from that civilization. List and defend their choice of twenty items that would serve as the most valuable artifacts of our society if found by archeologists in 1000 years. Each Site Box should be a box filled with the material listed first, and should include as many of the artifacts as possible. Discuss what an artifact is. Using examples students cited in their journals, have students speculate about what would remain of items in the classroom after several thousands years.
Students sift through their site to obtain artifacts.
Students present their Site Box findings to the class, and discuss how they arrived at the answers to the above questions. Students list the twenty most significant artifacts that the dig would uncover, and explain how each artifact would give valuable information about the society in which we live. Research other famous archeological finds and write a report about what the findings say about the culture from which they came. Visit a museum to observe artifacts and relics from many ancient civilizations. Study the process of carbon dating and other methods used to determine the age of an artifact.