By Lisa Carolin
Beach Middle School seventh-graders had the opportunity to meet archaeology doctoral students from Wayne State University at two early December assemblies at Beach called Time Jumpers.
“The Time Jumpers assembly is a program which gives students an opportunity to experience being an archaeologist through hands on activities and inquiry,” said Beach teacher Kelsey Miller. “The archeology students bring artifacts they have excavated in Detroit as well as share their personal experiences as archaeologists at various dig sites.”
The Beach students were taught what archaeologists do, how investigations are done, and were introduced to artifacts such as ceramics, bones, letters, and photos. Included in the lesson was an explanation of what an excavation is, tools that are used, and the importance of taking notes.
The seventh-graders were given a project using chocolate chip cookies where the cookies were part of an excavation and the chips are the artifacts. Their goal was to plot the artifacts to create a map.
In groups of five to seven, students tackled a stratigraphy box. They were given 10 minutes to excavate four layers of cultural material and then bag, label and analyze their finds.
“Seventh Grade Global Studies focuses on the earliest people and civilizations in history such as Egypt, Rome, Greece, Mesopotamia and many more,” said Miller. “Our curriculum has students discover the past by first learning about the occupations that research these ancient people including historians, archeologists, and anthropologists.”
The Wayne State students explained that studying archaeology is studying the past to protect history, the present, and the future.
