Kipper Family Archaeology Discovery Center Program

Stacey Murrell, a first-year graduate student at the University of Chicago and an Educational Programs Facilitator of the Oriental Institute’s Kipper Family Archaeology Discovery Center (KADC) Program, shares her experience teaching middle- and high-school students in the program.

“Whoa cool! Are these things real?”

–T.S., fifth grader

The Kipper Family Archaeology Discovery Center Program is an interactive hands-on program that teaches students the process of archaeology through a simulated excavation and artifact facsimiles. It allows students of multiple ages (specifically middle- to high-school grade levels) to engage in learning about ancient Near Eastern civilizations, as well as modern archaeological practices. In addition to the hands-on component, the program includes a guided tour through the galleries to further reinforce the message that ancient people had real lives and participated in the same activities we do today: worship, work, writing, cooking and eating, trading (and use of receipts), art, and many others. Part of the program is also geared at challenging the common assumptions about lives of ancient people, such as the application of makeup for women AND powerful men in ancient Egypt.

“Do you know everything about artifacts?”

– D.M., sixth grader

My experience with these programs comes from my role as an Educational Programs Facilitator, and in this capacity I, along with my colleagues, run the part of the program that involves hands-on interaction with the artifacts themselves and the guided tour. We help the visitors understand the basics of what archaeology is and the tools we use to look in-depth at the artifacts, including stratigraphy (the geological study of rock layers and layering). We also help participants make informed inferences about usage and purpose and what kind of locus (location) artifacts might be from. An idea that students take away from the program is the importance of how artifacts reflect our culture.

“Are you sure this isn’t the world’s first breadstick mold?”

– M.L., sixth grader

For me, this is the most enjoyable part of the programs, when the students get to spend time thinking about what the artifacts might be. Before they get to handle the artifacts, we all come up with questions that guide the participants when interpreting artifacts; this includes questions like – What did they eat? What did they do for fun? Were they settled or nomadic? Did they practice a religion? etc. In their subsequent investigation of the artifacts, the students offer a wide variety of guesses and theories for what something might be, and often these are great examples of the kids’ imaginations. And while eventually we guide them to the actual uses through a series of probing questions, it’s so fun watching their minds generate ideas!