USchool is a program run by the University of Alberta Senate that brings in grade school students to introduce and connect them to a variety of programs at the university. On April 13, the Department of Anthropology had an opportunity to show 25 Grade 6 kids from Calder Elementary what it's like to be a mini archaeologist!
Faculty member Pamela Mayne Correia and graduate student Katherine Bishop had the students exploring in the Biological Anthropology Teaching lab, 'discovering' items like faunal remains from the Zooarchaeological Reference Collection. To round out the experience, human remains from the Osteological Collection and material remains from the Bryan Gruhn Ethnographic Collection were included, affording the students, in the case of the Gruhn collection, a chance to work with some replica stone and bone tools. Students were exposed to some basic concepts in what can be learned from skeletal material, both faunal and human, and what it can tell us about the archaeological site.
Pamela and Katherine spent over an hour talking about the different materials and answering questions from the enthusiastic crowd. The students were shocked to learn that the materials they were working with were real. As Katherine noted, "some kids were grossed out but others really appreciated it!"
Some of the favorite questions asked were "is this real?", "where did these bones come from?" and "how can you tell it's a bison bone?"
Anthropology has such vast and diverse collections (over 15,000 items) of materials, it was a delight for Pamela and Katherine to showcase them to such engaged participants. USchool has brought students to our department several times, visiting IPA and the Bryan Gruhn Ethnographic Collection specifically.
Faculty member Pamela Mayne Correia and graduate student Katherine Bishop had the students exploring in the Biological Anthropology Teaching lab, 'discovering' items like faunal remains from the Zooarchaeological Reference Collection. To round out the experience, human remains from the Osteological Collection and material remains from the Bryan Gruhn Ethnographic Collection were included, affording the students, in the case of the Gruhn collection, a chance to work with some replica stone and bone tools. Students were exposed to some basic concepts in what can be learned from skeletal material, both faunal and human, and what it can tell us about the archaeological site.
Pamela and Katherine spent over an hour talking about the different materials and answering questions from the enthusiastic crowd. The students were shocked to learn that the materials they were working with were real. As Katherine noted, "some kids were grossed out but others really appreciated it!"
Some of the favorite questions asked were "is this real?", "where did these bones come from?" and "how can you tell it's a bison bone?"
Anthropology has such vast and diverse collections (over 15,000 items) of materials, it was a delight for Pamela and Katherine to showcase them to such engaged participants. USchool has brought students to our department several times, visiting IPA and the Bryan Gruhn Ethnographic Collection specifically.