Lesson Plan
Subject: U. S. History, Archaeology & Anthropology
Grade Level: Grade 6-8
Brief Description: The purpose of these mini-lessons is to teach the students the importance of using artifacts in order to interpret and learn about history from actual objects as opposed to written history and how to link everything to together. The first lesson is a history of Freedmanís Village to teach the students more about the village. The second lesson is a beginning background lesson on what archaeology is and why it is important. The third lesson is on artifacts and examples of different artifacts and how we can use them to learn about peoples of the past. The final lesson pulls everything together for the students. These lessons should take 40-60 minutes a day over a week to complete.
1. The student will be able to define archaeology and state the importance of archaeology in order to learn about cultures.
2. The student will be able to define what an artifact is and identify 10 artifacts that might have been found in Freedmanís Village and what they were used for.
3. To simulate an actual archaeological dig, measure and record finds, and make inferences about the site uncovered.
4. The student will be able to write a one page paper on why studying and preserving artifacts are so important to learning about history and past cultures
SOL: USII.1 The student will demonstrate skills for historical and geographical analysis, including the ability to
a) analyze and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history from 1877 to the present;
b) make connections between past and presen
Key Words/Vocabulary for all lessons
liberated slave
contrabands
Confederate
emancipated
subsidizing
archaeology - The science of studying material evidence to find out about human cultures of the past.
culture - The complete way of life of a people: the shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterize a group; their customs, art, literature, religion, philosophy, etc.; the pattern of learned and shared behavior among the members of a group.
artifact - An object that was made, used, and/or transported by humans that provides information about human behavior in the past. Examples include things like pottery, stone tools, bones with cut marks, coins, etc.
attribute - A characteristic or recognizable quality of an object, such as size, color, material, shape, age, etc., which is used to describe, analyze, or characterize an artifact.
conservation - The scientific process of cleaning--and often repairing and/or restoring--an artifact in order to preserve it for further study and/or display.
ecofacts - A naturally produced object found on an archaeological site, such as the remains of animals or plants, that gives us information about past environments. For example, seeds, animal bones and soil could all be ecofacts.
excavate - to recover artifacts and other evidence from an archaeological site in a scientific manner
features - A feature is something that a human made in the past that has not been or cannot be moved. Good examples of this would be a house floor or a hearth (fire pit).
field notes - Archaeologists keep a notebook with them when they are digging so they can note when they change levels and what kinds of things they find. They need to keep another record in case the profile or floor plan they drew wasn't very clear. Later, in the lab, archaeologists might question the context of an object. If they have notes to go back and look at, it makes it easier to figure out what was going on.
gridding - The division of an archaeological site into small squares that denote different areas of excavation, making it easier to measure and document the site.
site - An area designated for archaeological exploration by excavation and/or survey.
trowel - A tool used by archaeologists to dig in the ground. A trowel is very useful because it allows them to dig in a sideways, scraping fashion.
Freedmanís
Bureau Worksheet
ABCís of Archaeology
Vocab. Worksheet
ABCís of Archaeology Test
K-W-L Chart
Analyzing
Artifacts from Slave Life worksheet
Pictures of
5 artifacts for groups
Analyzing
Artifacts from our Culture worksheet
Deep plastic bin (or
shoe box)
Soil that is not dry or crumbly that can be compacted easily
Small shovel
Artifacts (plastic charms, coins, toothpicks, etc.)
Graph paper
Interactive PowerPoint quiz
Books on archaeology (please see list in Reading List)
Computer with Internet Access
Lesson One: History of Freedmanís Village
Key Words:
liberated slave
contrabands
Confederate
emancipated
subsidizing
This lesson should take about 60 minutes.
… The students will read a brief history on Freedmanís Village. You can find this brief history on the Arlington Cemetery website. (http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/freedman.htm) History
… Discuss the importance of Freedmanís Village with the students. Why was it important for this village to be created? How did it help the freed slaves?
… Using the Freedmanís Village PowerPoint share with students images of Freedmanís Village and review some key points about the village with the students
- Have the students get into groups and give them poster board or craft paper and markers to brainstorm with each other to come up with the following ideas:
- What can they do to learn more about the village?
- How can we preserve and teach others about the village?
- After they have worked in their groups for about 15-20 minutes have the groups share their ideas with the class and list their ideas on the board
Homework:
… Freedmanís Village Worksheet
Lesson Two: ABCís of Archaeology
Key Words:
archaeology - The science of studying material evidence to find out about human cultures of the past.
excavate - to recover artifacts and other evidence from an archaeological site in a scientific manner
site - An area designated for archaeological exploration by excavation and/or survey.
Activity #2 Procedures: This lesson should take about 40 minutes.
- Divide the students into groups of 4 with no more than 5 students in each group.
- Have the students work together in there groups to fill out the K-W-L chart on archaeology. The students will use books that are provided to them in order to fill out what the What They Know and What They Want to Learn parts of the chart (see the Reading List to pick books for students to use). Give the students about 20 minutes to work on this activity.
… After the group activity, the students should go back to their desks. Use the ABCís of Archaeology PowerPoint to teach the students more about archaeology.
… After you have completed the PowerPoint presentation, the students should be able to fill in the last part, What They Learned, of the K-W-L chart.
Homework:
… ABCís Archaeology Vocabulary Study Sheet and study for short vocabulary test for tomorrow.
Lesson Three: Artifacts ‚ Why do we care?
… Start this lesson by having students take the ABCís of Archaeology Vocabulary Test.
… Ask the students if anyone knows what an artifact is and what we use them for.
… Show the students some examples of artifacts from slave life and what we learned from them using the Artifacts of Slave Life PowerPoint.
- Group students and have them complete the activity on artifacts. Each group will be given one artifact and asked to answer the questions about their artifact on their Analyzing Artifacts from Slave Life worksheet. They should also be able to present this information to the class.
- Give the students the Analyzing Artifacts from our Culture worksheet for homework.
Lesson Four: Putting Everything Together
This lesson will probably take 2 ‚ 60 minute class periods. 1 ‚ 60 minute class period for prepping and the 2nd ‚ 60 minute class period for doing the actually uncovering of other groups artifacts.
Materials:
Deep plastic bin (or shoe box)
Soil that is not dry or crumbly that can be compacted easily
Small shovel
Artifacts (plastic charms, coins, toothpicks, etc.)
Graph paper
Uncovering Artifacts - In this activity, you'll work in a team to prepare a model of the ground beneath a slave's quarters. The model will include a sub-floor pit and an
assortment of artifacts. Once the pit has been filled in and the artifacts covered, you'll exchange your model with another team of students. Then, you'll keep a log and record the positions of the items you unearth.
Studentís Sheet
1. Work in teams of 3-4. Prepare your archeological
site by filling a plastic
bin four inches (10 cm) deep with soil.
2. Pat down the soil to make a flat, level surface.
3. Select a location for your sub floor pit and excavate a rectangular pit
roughly the size of a deck of playing cards - roughly 4 by 3 inches (10 by 7.5 cm) Pat the walls and bottom of the pit to form a firm impression in the soil.
4. On a sheet of graph paper, draw a map of the entire soil surface. Number the grid lines and use them as a coordinate system to record locations on your map. Include a sketch of your pit's location on the map.
5. Scatter several artifacts in the pit. Record their exact location on your sketch. Continue filling the pit as you scatter several additional items in the storage space. Don't forget to record the exact location of each item. Also include the relative depth of the artifact. Think about it: how someone would know that one object was to the left and deeper than another object.
6. Once the pit is completely filled (it should be level with the surrounding soil) scatter several more artifacts across the entire surface of the plot
(beyond the limits of the pit). After recording the location of these
items, cover this level with several inches of soil.
7. Exchange archeological sites with another team. On a separate sheet of graph paper, make a sketch of this new plot. Carefully excavate the site. Record the positions and relative depths of any items that are uncovered during the "dig".
8. Locate the position of the buried sub-floor pit. Excavate the pit and record the locations of all recovered items.
9. When you are finished obtain the plot diagram from the original team and compare and contrast the sketches that you made with those made by the original creators of the site. Did you correctly identify the positions of all objects and their relative depths? Why or why not? How did you show the various depths? What made it difficult to map the objects?
10. When the activity is complete, clean your desktop. Be sure to dispose of the soil as directed by your teacher.
Final Homework Assignment
… The students will be asked to write a one page response to one of the following questions.
- What is the value of the archaeology? What does the study of artifacts teach us about a culture that we couldnít learn in other ways?
- How do you think a team of archaeologists decides where to excavate? What kinds of records should the team consult before starting to dig?
- What types of tools do archaeologists use? How has technology changed how archaeologists do their work?
- What are the limitations of archaeology? What canít we learn about another culture by studying fossils and artifacts?
- Would you consider pursuing archaeology as a career? What do you think would be rewarding about it? What do you think would be frustrating?
Interactive PowerPoint ‚ Artifact Challenge
Now that the students have learned everything there is to know about archaeology and artifacts they can play this game to see if they can guess what artifacts might have been found in Freedmanís Village.
The studentís one page response paper will be assessed as follows for a total of 40 pts.:
Rubric:
10 pts. for complete sentences and no grammatical or punctuation errors
5 pts. for creativity in writing style
10 pts. for completely answering the question
5 pts. for including their own thoughts or views about the question
5 pts. for citing where they got their information
5 pts. for using examples that we discussed in class as well as other
examples