Friday, September 12, 2014

A for Archaeology

Although we made it from A-Z in our Alphabet in Simple Science, I decided that I'd add some here and there.
Science Notebook Page (Click the picture to print).

Background
Since we were studying about Ancient Egypt, we talked about how archaeologists are the ones who studied the old culture and found the mummies.  We talked about how sometimes studying the past is like a big puzzle.  Archaeologists have to piece together a lot of clues to figure out how people lived.

Ancient Egypt Archaeology Dig
Materials:
1 cup sand
1/2 c cornstarch
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup water
Ancient Egypt Toob (or any other small figurines)


Procedure:
Inspiration for this activity came from Coffee Cups and Crayons.  First I mixed the sand, cornstarch and cream of tartar.  Then I added them to a pot with the water and warmed it until the water was cooked in (kind of like cooking play dough).  Once it was nice and thick, I let the mixture cool for a while, then wrapped the Toob figurines in the dough.  I like them dry for about a day.  
Then I put the "fossils" in the sand box and told Xander he needed to hunt them down.  I gave him a shovel and a sifter and he went searching.  If you don't have a sand box, you could hide the fossils in any sort of sensory bin.
After he dug them all up, I set up some "archaeology tools" on a tray for him to dig out the fossils.  They were basically some play dough tools and a little paint brush.  He had so much fun digging out all of the toys!  We will definitely be doing something similar in the future!
I also picked up Temple Trap for him (50% off coupon at Michaels).  He needs some help, but likes the idea of avoiding the alligators.  The premise of the game is that you're a person stuck in a temple and you have to try to escape without getting eaten by alligators.





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