THE CASE OF 

WHAT’S DOWN IN THE GROUND?

 

Archaeologists dig to find buildings and objects that humans left behind over thousands of years – “artifacts” – to figure out how those ancient peoples lived their lives.

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Paleontologists dig to find fossils – the preserved remains or impressions of ancient life, such as plants, fish, animals (think dinosaurs!), and insects – to understand how organisms developed over time and what life was like millions of years ago on Earth.  (The picture below is of ammonites, a marine mollusc that became extinct about 66 million year ago.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Each location where an archaeologist or paleontologist digs is called a “site.”

 

What artifacts and/or fossils do you think are buried at your site?

 

For this doable the adult needs to collect and prepare in advance, without the child seeing:

 

• 1 flat, box-like plastic or heavy cardboard container

• Dirt to fill the container about ¾ full.  The dirt should be clean enough for a child to handle safely.

• 1 bowl to hold excess dirt removed during the dig 

• Paper towel(s) to place the objects on after uncovering and rinsing

• Small digging tools

• 1 paint brush for brushing dirt away from and off the objects

• Objects to be found in the dirt – balsa wood dinosaur bones, as we did, (kit pictured below), or real/replica fossils, bits of play jewelry, bits of broken china that could be glued back together, coins, etc.

• Optional: glue, thin string, toothpicks, graph paper or sketch pad, pencil

 

To create the site: 

 

Pour an inch or more of dirt in the container, place the objects on top of the dirt, and then cover them with another inch or more of the dirt.  Press it down so the objects are firmly encased in the dirt.  If you are using dinosaur bones as well as artifacts, make sure there is a layer of dirt between them – the dinosaurs would have died long before the artifacts were made!

 

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Then the child can go to work slowly digging in the dirt to find the objects, being careful not to damage them.

 

 

 

 

 

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You might want to take notes as it goes along, to remember the relative locations of the finds.  An older child could even use a grid system, and sketch where things are found.  Use the toothpicks as posts, placed at the outer edges of the container at even intervals.  Form a grid with the string wound around opposite toothpicks.  

 

Then lay out the same grid pattern on graph paper or a sketch pad, to make a record of what was found in each section of the site.  (Click on image for PDF printable copy.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or simply make notes, identifying the finds by the grid letter/number coordinates.  (This book explains it well.)

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Once everything has been found, the skeleton can be built, the china can be reglued, and hypotheses can be made about the finds.  For example:

 

• How did the dinosaur die?

• How did the artifacts come to be in the dirt?  

• Was the site used as a garbage dump – because of the broken china?

• Did someone drop the jewelry by mistake and couldn’t find it again?

• Were the coins buried as a treasure to keep them safe?

• Why are the artifacts found above the dinosaur bones?

• Are you an archeologist or paleontologist?  Or both?

 

 

Note: This is the balsa wood dinosaur kit we used in our site:

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