Transcript Welcome to Social Studies

Artifact Inquiry
Goal:
Working in groups, students will identify the functions
of previously unknown objects by their appearances
and/or structures.
Background:
When archaeologists dig up artifacts, many times they are
unearthing certain objects for the first time
and must guess the function based on appearance.
Further digs in similar locales may shed more light on these objects
and give greater credence to a researcher's proposed identification.
“Artifact Inquiry” simulates part of the process that “real”
archaeologists use in their work.
It is an excellent activity for
beginning the year in history since
archaeology is a fundamental source
of our information on many past
events and cultures!
Check out a Web site
with an interactive dig!
Main page
Mystery items
(Help identify an artifact and post your ideas on the bulletin board)
What’s the
procedure?
Step #1
Each student will be put into a
team of 3-4 people. You need to
work together with each other
step-by-step!
Step #2
Each team will be given an initial
object to examine.
Step # 3
Working as a team…
 Examine the object
 Brainstorm ideas for
what the object was
used for
 Read the directions
on the
“Brainstorming Web”
sheet and choose a
scribe to fill in the
sheet
(4 minutes)
Step #4
In BIG letters, write on the
back of the “Brainstorming
Web” sheet what your team
would name this object
…try and make the name
appropriate to the object’s
use(s) (2 minutes)
Final Steps!
 Rotate the objects clockwise, so that each
group examines each object
 Repeat steps 2-4 for each object that your
group examines
 Once all teams have examined all objects,
teams will be paired to share their ideas for
usage and their names for each object
Closure
On a clean sheet of paper,
students will write the answers to
the following questions in their
notebooks.
Reflections on
“Artifact Inquiry”
1.
2.
3.
Did your team identify
the correct name and
use(s) of any of the
objects? If so, which
objects?
List three things that you
learned from doing this
simulation.
When working in your
team, what is one thing
that you did well? What
is one thing that you
would do differently
next time you work in a
team?
I will use this technology in my classroom in two fundamental ways.
The first way is as a media for delivering instruction. In this project I introduced
a simulation, gave directions for completing the simulation, and provided closing
questions for the students to reflect on the simulation. When using the
PowerPoint technology in this fashion, I would also give students handouts of each
slide to greater facilitate understanding. Although Jonassen et. al. criticizes this
type of technology use, I believe that it is appropriate for the delivering of
instructions to the whole class. Today’s students are more interested in looking at
a PowerPoint presentation of directions, versus a plain black-and-white overhead.
The second way that I could use this technology would be to have the students
interact with it. I could definitely design a PowerPoint presentation that takes the
students from slide-to-slide and to different Web sites. Also, I could have students
pick which slides or Web sites to visit.
Students are able to use PowerPoint as a way of “receiving” instruction
(see above) or as a way of “constructing” their own instruction. “The people who
learn the most from designing instructional materials are the designers, not the
learners for whom the materials are intended” (Jonassen et. al.). When students
create their own PowerPoint presentations, they truly are constructing their own
knowledge. Student construction of presentations would give students the greatest
benefit because they are teaching the computer, versus the computer teaching them.
Another way to involve students in the constructing of their own knowledge
would be to create a presentation and have students add appropriate material to it
(e.g. answer questions, link to Web sites).