Back From the Future

Social Studies

What You Need

• archeological tools for each team (masking tape, plastic bag, latex gloves, small brushes, sketching paper, pencil)
• posterboard, markers

What to Do

1. Tell the class that they now live in the year 3000. They are all world-renowned archaeologists, famous for their scholarly excavations, writing, and lectures about ancient cultures. They have been invited to explore a very exciting new archaeological site, possibly dating all the way back to the 20th century.

2. Tell them there is tremendous competition among the world's leading archaeological teams to be the most thorough in the excavation and research of this site. Remind them, though, that archaeologists are very patient and detail-oriented. They must examine every detail of every artifact to hypothesize what the object might have looked like, been used for, and, eventually, what kind of people, culture, and lifestyle would have used it.

3. Assign teams to explore the archaeological site (the classroom). Tell each team to choose one artifact they believe will reveal insights about the culture of the 20th century. Tell them to use the tools of the archaeologist when examining their artifact.

4. The tools of the archaeologist are:
   • gloves (so as not to contaminate the artifact)
   • tape to tag and identify the artifact by site, time of discovery, and location
   • brushes to thoroughly clean the artifact
   • bags to keep artifacts away from the deteriorating effects of pollution and oxygen
   • usually a camera, but in this case a sketch book, to show where the artifact was found

5. Tell them they will be responsible for breaking the story on the 6 o'clock news. The broadcast should be informative and exciting, because they will be competing with other archaeologists from all over the world.

   Each broadcast should include:

   • A description of the site where the artifact was found
   • Estimated age of the artifact
   • Detailed description of the artifact
   • A diagram
   • An expert analysis of what the artifact could have been used for (for example: a pencil might be interpreted as money. The long pencils could have greater value than the short stubby ones. Or, a pencil could have been a weapon, or part of a game.).
   • End the broadcast with a summary statement regarding what this culture could have been like.

Teaching Options

• After listening to all the reports, have students write an essay about what the 20th century was like. Use the essays as a springboard to discussion about the difficulties archaeologists face when they are actually trying to reconstruct what an ancient culture was like.

• David Macaulay's well-illustrated "Motel of Mysteries" is a humorous example of archaeological misinterpretation and could be used before or after the student teams conduct their research.

• Visit a museum to view artifacts from an ancient culture. Encourage students to look for clues about what the civilization was like and how the people lived their daily lives.