By Dwane Brown
A pilot program from the San Diego Archaeological Center aims to teach kids to ask questions, carry out an investigation and analyze data.
“Archaeology for Kids” is focused on underserved elementary school students and trains them to think and act like archaeologists.
During a session in City Heights on Monday, a student examined a potato masher and tried to guess what it was for.
“This is part wood and they use this to squish beans or potatoes,” the student suggested.
The program, a partnership with NWB Environmental Services and Euclid Elementary School, trains kids to learn how to touch, feel and ask questions to engage their inner scientists.
“Geologists study rocks and minerals, paleontologists study rocks and fossils, and archaeologists, we study something else right? We study people,” said Cara Ratner, the program director at the San Diego Archaeological Center.
Ana Luisa Biffle has been the principal at Euclid Elementary for six years and is thankful her school was picked to launch “Archaeology for Kids.” She said her students learn by doing.
“They can’t go to Egypt, they can’t go to a foreign land to do a dig,” she said. “We can relate it right here at home and have them make that connection.”