STEM to STREAM
STEM to STREAM: Vanguard’s Approach to Learning Across Academic Domains: Archaeology Digs
“My favorite part of the archaeology simulation was probably when we were digging and looking for something in the dirt and then just making the video and getting the final product of it. Andrew: I’d say the same, digging is really fun because the soil that was in the boxes was pretty softly laid, and it was so satisfying to dig out the artifacts. And you also just didn’t know what was going to come out and especially after digging and digging, you would get even more strange and unusual artifacts, which was really cool.”
Welcome to Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog. This is the third article in our series STEM to STREAM: Vanguard’s Approach to Learning Across Academic Domains. I’m Elizabeth Blaetz, Founder and Head of School at Vanguard Gifted Academy. In this series, we are exploring the subjects and activities that incorporate Vanguard’s use of the elevated STEM approach that we call STREAM. In this installment we will be highlighting archaeology with Umar and Andrew, who are in Band 2 at Vanguard.
EB: Hi guys.
Band 2 Learners: Hello!
EB: How are you doing?
Band 2 Learners: We’re doing fine!
EB: So, tell me about what you were studying in archaeology?
Umar: Well, one thing we were studying was how different cultures, when they use things over time, things got buried. And then in the future, nowadays, archeologists are finding those things and they’re digging up all of the artifacts and trying to find out what the ancient people used them for.
Andrew: This had to do with our main unit we had at that quarter of the year, which was Change. This connected to the archaeology simulation we were doing and also the change in technology, which matched up with the video we also did on our own.
EB: So, you guys became archaeologists. How did that happen?
Umar: Miss Holub made buckets that were filled with dirt, and she hid some things that we didn’t know what they were so that we could actually try to analyze what we found. We ended up preparing for the dig and then we started digging and analyzing.
EB: Good. How did you prepare the dig? What did you have to do?
Andrew: First, we had to, of course, uncover the boxes. Then we had to set up a coordinate grid so that on a map we could chart the location and the depth of the artifacts that we found.
EB: Good. That sounds like a lot of work!
Andrew: It was a bit simpler than you may expect, except for the part where you had to chart the coordinates, because for some reason, even though it’s just putting a bunch of strings precisely located on top of a box, it took literally four days just to get that going, even with a group of 13 people.
EB: So what did you do when you found things?
Umar: Once we found artifacts, first, we had to clean off any remaining dirt. Then, we gave it to whoever was logging the artifacts, and they would try to draw the artifact and try to map where we found it.
Andrew: After we did that, we had to figure out what artifact it was and what time it came from, which is why the location and depth of the artifact is very important.
EB: So, what did all this have to do with technology? How did you guys put technology to use?
Umar: Well, it had to do with when we were trying to make a documentary of how we were digging and then we took videos of us digging and logging and analyzing, but then we also had people talking about archaeology.
EB: And what did you use that for?
Andrew: We used it to show our audiences at the showcases that we have, about what we learned about, in this case archaeology, how we simulated it, and also some facts about it.
EB: Great. So what was your favorite part about that project?
Umar: My favorite part of the archaeology simulation was probably when we were digging and looking for something in the dirt and then just making the video and getting the final product of it.
Andrew: I’d say the same, digging is really fun because the soil that was in the boxes was pretty softly laid, and it was so satisfying to dig out the artifacts. And you also just didn't know what was going to come out and especially after digging and digging, you would get even more strange and unusual artifacts, which was really cool.
EB: What is it that you’re going to remember from that experience?
Umar: I think I’ll remember that if you’re an archaeologist, you can’t just find a site that has artifacts and start digging. You have to prepare, make a plot. Then once you find an artifact, you can’t just say, “Ohhh, let me put this in a museum.” You have to analyze and try to find out what it was.
EB: Can you tell me a little bit more about what you were doing at that time and what you learned about cultures?
Andrew: This tied into lots of things, especially into cultures because, if you’re digging up artifacts, chances are, you’re going to find something from a time long ago. And, of course, things from a time long ago include things from ancient cultures.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and our boys sharing about archaeology. Our next article will discuss disability awareness. Thank you for following our series STEM to STREAM. We hope that Vanguard Gifted Academy’s educational blog will continue to be a resource for you. If you have missed a previous installment, check out our introduction on STEM to STREAM, or call us at (224) 213-0087.