I was going to major in archaeology and minor in anthropology in college. Then my over-cautious self said (in best yente voice) "Bones, schmones. Pick something mahketable. You can't eat history." (That last part could have been my pragmatic Dutch grannie head voice). So I picked teaching. Ahahahaa, marketable. Such irony.Till I can find a dig that accepts volunteers and is close enough to be doable, I have to get my archaeology fix elsewhere. Here are free printable lesson plans on cave-related subjects of fossils, bats, archaeology, paleontology, habitats, geology, spelunking and earth science.
The
National Parks Service has free printable lessons on the U.S. national park at
Carlsbad Cavernsin New Mexico. There's
curriculum for elementary school in the free printable booklet
About Bats, Caves and Deserts. For middle school students, the NPS Carlsbad Caverns website features
free printable archaeology lessons on Caves, Canyons, Cactus and Critters. High
school students explore geology, spelunking, Global Positioning Systems and
orienteering in the Chihuahuan Desert Lab school. Materials are designed to be
used with interpretive visits but some may be used as stand-alone lessons in
class. Check out the cool activities on fossils, bats, paleontology and other
cave phenomena.
Also
from the NPS, are free printable materials on Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. There are free coloring
pages, word games, puzzles and lesson plans in the Junior Ranger section. Kids
will love the printable Trog Tour booklet (trog is short for super cool fossils
called troglodytes) The Making Connections series from Mammoth Cave National
Park features books for grades K-3, 4-5 and 6-8. There are 83 pages of free printable
paleontology lesson plans for teachers and homeschool parents. And be sure
not to let young archaeology students miss the free printable Fossil
Identification Guide with
coloring pages of fossils to label.
