San Diego Archaeological, Escondido, CA 92027

$5 Per One

EDUCATION PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS

Grade: K-2 : Each program can be conducted at your school or location, unless otherwise noted. Each field trip includes an archaeology quest through the museum and two of the following programs:

Rock Art Exploration : In this program, students will be introduced to symbols, specifically symbols used in rock art, which include painted depictions (pictographs) and engravings (petroglyphs) on rock walls and boulders. A symbol is an object that represents an idea, image, belief, or action specific to a given culture. We will lead a discussion on cultural symbols, focusing on symbols they are familiar with as well as symbols found in rock art. Students will be asked to analyze their own cultural symbols, as well as rock art symbols from different time periods. They will then have to think of an important cultural symbol to them and paint that symbol on a poster board designed to look like a real rock wall. Each student will contribute to this rock art board. We will end the program with a discussion on how we can protect rock art. The classroom will keep the completed rock art board at the end of this program.

Make and Take an Artifact : In this program, students will be taught about the science behind archaeology and about archaeological artifacts. They will be introduced to stone tools and pottery made by indigenous cultures around the world. We will discuss how archaeologists use artifacts to tell stories about people in the past. We will focus on how archaeologists record and analyze pottery, with special emphasis on reconstructing broken pottery pieces together. The students will get to try putting broken ceramic plates back together, similar to an archaeologist in the laboratory. Afterwards, they will learn how indigenous people made pottery by getting to make their own pinch pot to take home.

Grade: 3-5

Archaeological Site Excavation and Analysis :  In this program students will be introduced to what an archaeologist actually does, including how we find sites, what we do when we discover a site, and how to properly record and excavate a site. The students will be divided into two groups and assigned the roles of archaeologists excavating two archaeological sites. They will first devise research questions and hypotheses about their excavation unit, and then get the opportunity to excavate for artifacts in their unit. Once they have excavated their sites, they will analyze the artifacts, and as a team address and answer their original research questions. They will share their findings with the other group. We will end this program with a discussion on the importance of preserving archaeological sites, and our role as site stewards in helping to protect our cultural resources. (This program cannot be conducted off-site)

Rock Art Exploration : In this program, students will be introduced to symbols, specifically symbols used in rock art, which include painted depictions (pictographs) and engravings (petroglyphs) on rock walls and boulders. A symbol is an object that represents an idea, image, belief, or action specific to a given culture. We will lead a discussion on cultural symbols, focusing on symbols they are familiar with as well as symbols found in rock art. Students will be asked to analyze their own cultural symbols, as well as rock art symbols from different time periods. They will then have to think of an important cultural symbol to them and paint that symbol on a poster board designed to look like a real rock wall. Each student will contribute to this rock art board. We will end the program with a discussion on how we can protect rock art. The classroom will keep the completed rock art board at the end of this program.