Projects for Social Studies on Artifacts
Social studies comprises a wide range of topics from economics and geography to history and politics. Artifacts can help students learn about these various fields by giving them a glimpse into the past and teaching them how to analyze data scientifically. Anything made by humans constitutes an artifact, whether it is a grocery receipt from yesterday or a vase from thousands of years ago. You can expose students of all ages to artifacts and their study in a variety of ways.
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Archaeological Dig
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Young students can learn what it's like to be archaeologists by participating a classroom "dig." Collect a few artifacts, such as shards of flower pots, arrowheads or plastic toys. If you are studying a particular culture, you also can have students create their own artifacts replicating those found in the culture being studied. For example, if you are studying Native Americans, your class could make beaded jewelry, clay pots or spear tips. Scatter the artifacts in a large sandbox, and equip students with tiny brushes or toothbrushes. Show them how to carefully brush away the sand to keep from damaging any artifacts beneath the surface and let them hunt for archaeological treasures.
Identification
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Show students a variety of artifacts such as old pictures, campaign buttons, receipts, leaves, coins, maps, books, rocks, advertisements and jewelry. You also can have students bring in something special from home. Lay the objects out on a numbered grid, or put a numbered sticky note next to each one. Ask students to group the artifacts according to what type of social scientists would be interested in them, such as economists, political scientists or geologists. Then ask them to pick a couple of artifacts and describe them scientifically, such as their dimensions, weight, materials and the "who, what, when, where, why, and how" of their production and use. Finally, have the students explain what the artifacts can tell us about the era from which they come.
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Investigation
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Ask students to research a topic of their choice using artifacts as the basis of their investigation. For example, a student might choose to investigate the history of fashion from the early 1900s. The student would need to look up old photographs from fashion magazines, advertisements and actual articles of clothing from that era. Possible topics include cooking, a public building, geography, music, wars or family trees. Give students a photograph of an old, unknown object, ask them to make a hypothesis about what it is and have them investigate it. Assign them a photograph from a certain moment in history and ask them to predict what happened before, during and after the photo was taken.
Museum Trip
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While investigating personal items has its value, little can replace the educational significance of the artifacts housed in a museum. Most towns have at least one museum, even if it merely documents the history of the area. Arrange for a field trip to a museum in your area, making sure to obtain proper authorization from the school and the children's parents. If you are knowledgeable about the materials in the museum, you could lead the group yourself, but if museum docents are available, it may be more informative for them to act as a guide. Give the students questions to answer as they walk through the museum. When the tour is over, have them pick an artifact to describe in a report.
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References
- Photo Credit statue of a Greek soldier and a Greek woman image by L. Shat from Fotolia.com
