CURRICULUM - Click on Image to Download

Welcome to the fascinating world of archaeology! We invite you to use archaeology in this curriculum as a hook to teach your students a broad range of multi-disciplinary concepts and state-mandated curriculum standards. Teachers are encouraged to use portions of it that best fit their needs. Most activities can stand alone, although when used in tandem they form an integrated whole. While this material has been prepared for 4th grade level abilities, some activities can be adapted to other age/ability ranges.

This curriculum incorporates historical research and archaeological discoveries at the Abercorn Archaeology Site (9CH1205) near Savannah, Georgia. The archaeological investigation of this site used science, history, reading, language arts, mathematics, art, deductive and inductive reasoning, logic, and research skills. It also involved critical thinking, analysis and interpretation, and information processing skills. Coincidentally, these are many of the skills required of students by educators, as well as skills necessary to function well in society. Thus, there is a natural relationship between archaeology and learning.

The goal of this curriculum is two-fold; to provide educators and students with a useful and exciting way to teach and learn mandated concepts, and to introduce students and teachers to the value of archaeological sites, research, and preservation. These materials are designed as a tool for educators to teach specific required Georgia education standards. Currently, those include the Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) for Social Studies and Science, and the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS) for Math and English/Language Arts. The Teacher’s Page for each activity lists which GPS and/or CCGPS are addressed. While the names and lexicon of the performance standards change on a regular basis, this curriculum will continue to offer basic educational concepts and analytical and comprehension skills required in our fast-changing world.

This archaeological curriculum provides an excellent tool for addressing multiple intelligences as identified and expanded on by Howard Gardner (Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligence for the 21st Century). Additionally, many of the activities in the archaeology curriculum scaffold and use the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. The curriculum also has endeavored to consider Universal Design for Learning in its activities.

Digital copies of this curriculum are available for you to download.

Please visit our “CHILDREN’S BOOK” page on this website for a free downloadable version of the Tell Me Tree book, associated with this 4th grade curriculum and the Abercorn Archaeology Site.

For information on other Georgia Department of Transportation projects and reports, please visit http://www.dot.ga.gov/Projects/programs/environment/resources/Pages/default.aspx

The project report, curriculum, and children’s book were funded by the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration through a contract with Atkins and New South Associates. They are based on archaeological data recovery at the Abercorn Archaeology Site (9CH1205) conducted by New South Associates.