(MaryPat Evans) I first started working with archaeologist Kurt Carr in 1999, with a student's individual science fair project about the kinds of stone prehistoric people chose to make artifacts from--I had the student use GIS to map the distribution of lithic sources in several sites in central Pennsylvania. I also worked with Kurt on another student project in which the student photographed stone scrapers from the paleoindian Shoop Site, using a scanning electron microscope. She then used digital image processing to determine if wear patterns could be identified on the surface of the stone scrapers. The next year the same student made her own stone scrapers and then used the scrapers on various materials, including bone, fresh deer hide, and wood. The experimental scrapers were photographed once again using SEM and lithic wear patterns analysis.
You can read more about those project here:
- the project page at Londonderry (has been taken down)
Appealing to Students' Curiosity
What is it that you think appeals to students about archaeology? What do they tell you about what they're learning?In uncovering a mystery! I think they were very excited about using their Forensic Science skills to "tell the story" of what happened at the site. I will be adding their "final reports" based on what they found in the ground to our website. [Note: currently inaccessible at http://www.susq-town.org/evans/]
You integrated a Forensic Archaeology segment this year--excavating two deer carcasses in a simulated archaeology dig (under the direction of archaeologist Kurt Carr). Have you learned anything about what might work better next year?
Kurt and I are meeting in early June about making a presentation about it at the Pennsylvania State Science Teachers convention. We really haven't had much time since the project to talk about it. We feel that it was successful, but there are several things we will do differently next time. For example, the soil was very hard and uneven to work in, so next year we plan on adding sand to the soil and will till the ground before we bury any of the "artifacts" next year. Also many of the students missed small artifacts such as bullet casings because we did not have them screen--we need to find a way to allow them to screen the soil. We also want to add a lab inside where they can clean, dry, label, and catalog the artifacts--we just ran out of time this year.
Teaching the Scientific Method
Your success with students forging careers in related fields is remarkable. What do you hope they take away from your classes?I hope that they have an appreciation for the Scientific Method. Many students come to class with articles they have clipped from the newspaper or printed from the Internet relating to the subjects we have covered in class. I also tell them that there may come a time when they may be called to jury duty and that because of this class they will have a little more knowledge than the average citizen about the physical evidence that may be presented at the trial. I also hope that someday they can look back at their experience and say to themselves-- "You know I actually know what it is like to take part in an archaeology excavation"--not something too many people can claim.
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MaryPat has compiled a list of links to her Londonderry School student projects that illustrate the range of ideas that can be used in classrooms.
