Archaeology

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Archology kit laid out on carpet

In partnership with the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, the Colorado State Library has fossil and archaeology kits for Colorado libraries to borrow! We hope these kits will allow your library to provide stimulating, Colorado-specific STEM programming for your patrons. The kits are designed for 4th graders but are easily adaptable for any age, from preschool through senior citizens. Both kits include hands-on items for your patrons to handle including real fossils and artifacts, background materials for staff, ready to go activity plans, maps, timelines, rulers, and much more to provide a rich, highly interactive learning experience.

This archaeology kit contains many replicas of real Colorado artifacts that kids and adults can hold and experience. Pottery shards and stone tools from different periods of Colorado history engage patrons with the tools that Native Americans used in their everyday lives. A replica spear thrower and modern day toy that operates on the same physics principles demonstrate technology changes and teach STEM lessons. Fire making materials round out the kit with more STEM principals. Background materials and an extensive teacher’s guide will help you present this kit to patrons of all ages.

Contents

Replica artifacts:

  1. Atlatl (spear thrower)
  2. Chuck-it (modern-day toy similar to an atlatl)
  3. Stone hand hold
  4. Tinder
  5. Hearths (2)
  6. Bow drill
  7. Clovis Point
  8. Folsom Point
  9. Calf Creek Point
  10. Tanged Point
  11. Pueblo Knife
  12. Side-Notched Point
  13. One pottery vessel
  14. 9 potsherds (3 painted, 3 corrugated, 3 grey ware)

3D printed items:

  • Bone awl
  • Bone needle
  • Side-notched projectile point

Ancient Colorado: An Archaeological Perspective / David Grant Noble

Intrigue of the Past: A Teacher’s Activity Guide for Fourth through Seventh Grades / Shelley J. Smith, Jeanne M. Moe, Kelly A. Letts and Danielle M. Paterson

Intrigue of the past: discovering archeology in Colorado (3 ring binder and CDROM)

1 DVD, Ancient technologies: fire starting, corn grinding, flint knapping, atlatl / Erin Baxter

Time line poster (laminated 36 cm x 29 cm)

8 laminated sheets of the time periods of the Pueblo culture

How to start a fire using the bow drill (4 sheets of printed instructions and illustrations)

Wallace ruin (1 laminated sheet)

10 hand lenses

10 rulers