Introduction:

Play the “From the Top” video for students. At the 2-minute mark, students are introduced to the role of archeologists in helping us understand about Paleoindians in Texas.

Pause or replay when it says “…some archeologists have found some pretty interesting things that really changed what we know – or what we think we know – about Paleoindians …”

Introduce the activity. “Today we are going to be archeologists. Let’s imagine that it is 18,000 years from now, and archeologists are excavating our classroom. What is left behind?” This is when you will need to explain perishable and non-perishable artifacts for the students. The future archeologists will only have the non-perishable items to discover and interpret.

Activity: Interpreting the classroom based on the non-perishable items.

Divide students in groups. Each group will collect 5-10 non-perishable items from the room and determine what they think an archeologist would be able to determine based on those items. This can be a quick discussion or, optionally, have students write a paragraph or even create a poster or some other simple presentation to share with the class.

Have each group share their items and what they determined based on what was left behind. Once all students have shared, challenge students to revise their ideas based on the artifacts and findings of other groups. (For example, if one group determined that we used scissors to cut food but another group had a stapler that they determined was used to bind paper together, could those two groups come to the conclusion that maybe the scissors and stapler were both used on paper?)

Wrap Up:

Discuss assumptions that can come from what is left behind. Did any of the groups come up with wildly improbable ideas? How important is it to look at all of the artifacts and information together? What happens when a new discovery is made? Students might even appreciate thinking about archeology as something like criminal forensics - taking all of the clues and putting them together to come up with the solution. Sometimes archeologists even partner with forensic scientists! See the STEM careers activity for more information and an extension opportunity.

Watch the “More Than Stone” video with the class. Explain to students that they have just completed a cultural interpretation of the classroom based on the non-perishable items. How is this limiting? How did they consider the non-perishable items and also take into account the perishable items that would not be available to the archeologists? What are some interpretations that could happen if you don’t consider the perishable items?

Short on Time?

Instead of having students work in collaborative groups, complete the activity as a whole group. Pull a collection of non-perishable classroom items to investigate altogether. Add an extra item after you have made some interpretations, and ask the students to revise their conclusions. Utilize the Wrap-Up for a classroom discussion.