4-H Science Palooza

Last Thursday, Campus Archaeology had the pleasure of presenting at the Science-Palooza, part of the 4-H Discovery Days that occurs each year on campus.  It was basically a circus, but for science!  There was a big tent with a bunch of science exhibits at tables, all having to do with MSU sciences or other local scientific and educational groups.  This was the first year that Campus Archaeology was invited to present, and we were delighted to accept the offer.  The event has been happening every year at MSU since 1970.  It has always drawn 2,400 or more kids from across Michigan each year.

For several days that week, campus (especially McDonel Hall, the home of our lab) was crawling with kids between the ages of 11 to 19.  They seemed pretty excited, both for the learning and because they got to spend a few days with their friends and away from their parents!

For the Science-Palooza, we had several activities.  We showed them how screening for artifacts works, played a matching/memory game, had them guess which artifacts were “old or new,” and had them do a mock walk-through survey of some dirt where we laid out artifacts and rocks.

Ian teaches Sparty how to screen dirt to look for artifacts, via K Meyers
Ian teaches Sparty how to screen dirt to look for artifacts, via K Meyers

I worked a screen for most of the time.  We were screening through sand that was full of beads, shells, rocks, and fossils.  We explained to them how and why we screened, what an artifact was, and how a shell may or may not be an artifact depending on the context.  Most everybody seemed interested, except a few kids just wanted to know where we got the sand for some reason.  Perhaps they were planning to turn their rooms into beaches.

In the matching/memory game, kids had to match historical artifacts with their modern counterparts.  Some were pretty easy, like comparing an old Listerine bottle with a new one.  Some of them were a little trickier, such as the old graphing compass and the new graphing calculator.  It was our most popular game.

Which are old and which are new? via K Meyers
Which are old and which are new? via K Meyers

For the “Old or New Game”, we took an old-looking new objects and put it next to an actual artifact and had the kids guess which one was the historic one.  For instance, Kit, our volunteer, took a file to a new glass Coke bottle and made it look impressively weathered.  We stuck it next to the old Coke bottle that we found and asked the kids to tell us which one was actually old and why they thought so.

In the walk-through survey game, we had a tarp covered in dirt shaped to look like a farmer’s field, placed artifacts, sticks and rocks throughout the dirt, and had the kids walk by and point out the artifacts.  We used sturdy materials, such as iron horseshoes, pieces of brick, and thick ceramics, just in case somebody stepped on something.

The event was very successful, and we were excited to teach these students about archaeology. Even Sparty came by and checked out our exhibit- he even tried sifting some dirt to search for artifacts! It was a great event, and we hope that we will be invited again next year!

 

Author: Caroline Dunham



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