Digging up bones: Sixth-graders practice archaeology at Warm Springs Middle School


MURRIETA -- Sixth-grade archaeologists unearthed "fossils" and "artifacts" from Homo erectus and other prehistoric ancestors of modern man during a "dig" at Warm Springs Middle School's volleyball courts Wednesday.

The mock archaeological dig was designed to bring to life what the students have been learning about early man for the past week and a half.

"I've wanted to have my students do an archaeological dig for a couple of years now," said Monica Hajduk, a language arts and social studies teacher. "I felt like I needed to have my students do a fun project that would help get them engaged and interested in learning.

"They get to go outside and be active and, at the same time, it's an assessment of what they've learned in social studies so far and how well they work together."

Hajduk used string to divide the volleyball courts into the rectangular grid pattern one would expect to see at a real archaeological dig. Then, she placed small, colored marker flags at different locations.

Hajduk made copies of pictures of skulls associated with various prehistoric humans and cut them into puzzle pieces. She also used illustrations and photos of ancient artifacts such as stone axes.

Each item was rolled up and placed in a plastic tube that she buried at the mock dig.

"I divided the students in this class into groups of five or six people, and each group was supposed to piece the fossil fragments and artifacts together to determine which species of hominid they found based on what they've learned in class," Hajduk said. "Then, they were supposed to write a report based on the evidence they found."

After combing through the white sand in the volleyball courts, one girl triumphantly waved a plastic bag at the other members of her group, and exclaimed, "I found the last piece!"

With the final puzzle part found, they dashed into Hadjuk's classroom to figure out what they had discovered.

Amanda Guimaraes, 11, said she enjoyed digging up the "fossils" and "artifacts," and added that her group had found evidence that pointed to a Homo erectus man. She and the other members of her group proudly showed how they had put the "fossil" pieces together to form a skull.

"It was fun," she said. "It was better than when we dissected a fish in the fifth grade."

Pointing to another of the group's finds, Nick Wise, 11, said he was the one who found their hand ax.

"I liked it," said Don Inouye, a 10-year-old member of another group. "I like putting things together like this."


