History
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History
https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/history-76
Fishtank archaeology helps pupils to understand more about chronology and time periods, as they can see the different layers and the thickness of each. You will need:
A clear plastic box for each small group
“Artefacts” from different times (which the children could make from clay)
Potting compost
Play sand
Plasticine
Recording sheets
Strong food bags
Preparation
Line the bottom of boxes with plasticine, to represent the bedrock (the layer before archaeology is found). Create a soilsand mix in bags.
Activity
We discussed stratigraphy (the layers of archaeology). We handed out the artefacts in chronological order. The children chose where to put them and what story to tell, which they record. They then create the next layer.
Follow-up
Swap boxes for excavation and interpretation. This emphasises how our interpretations differ from the “truth”
Websites
www.britarch.ac.ukyac
www.kidsdigreed.comgames.asp
www.cr.nps.govarcheologypublickidsindex.htm
Books
Archeology (DK Eyewitness Books) by Jane R McIntosh, DK Publishing (Jun 2000) A Street through Time by Anne Millard, Steve Noon, Dorling Kindersley (Oct 1998) Sarah Dhanjal Camden@UCL Young Archaeologists’ Club
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