An Archaeology Experience

mobile museum archaeology experience NHM programs

Working as archaeologists, students piece together clues to learn about the Chumash peoples of California.

Students excavate and analyze replica artifacts based on real data from archaeological sites in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties to draw conclusions about the daily lives of Chumash ancestors. By interpreting and contextualizing material culture, students learn that the ancestors of Chumash peoples were a complex society thriving in Southern California, a land rich in natural resources.

Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience was formerly known as the Earthmobile.

Program Overview

The Mobile Museum: An Archaeology Experience is a two-hour program for students in grades 3, 4, and 5.

The program is facilitated by two Educators who work with students in the Mobile Museum and in a pre-assigned classroom (Museum Lab) .

Students learn about the history and daily life of the ancestors of Chumash people through the science of archaeology.

Programs scheduled in the Fall semester may also be eligible for a follow-up visit to the Natural History Museum with subsidized bus transportation for participating classes.

If you are already scheduled for the NHM field trip component, you may wish to prepare for your visit by reviewing suggested itineraries or by visiting the museum in advance. Teachers are free with a school ID!

Program Objectives

To immerse students in the work of a scientist and apply methods used in scientific inquiry, including observation, data collection and making hypotheses.
To assist students in understanding the interrelationships between animals, plants, and humans in the local environment by exploring the natural resources of three regions: the coast, mountains and islands.
To deepen understanding of the complex history and culture of Native Peoples in Southern California.

Fieldwork

Mobile Museum, 50 ft. Tractor Trailer

This portion of the program is a simulation of an archaeological field site in the Santa Monica Mountains. Students will take on the role of archaeologists conducting research to determine why this site is a good place for the ancestors of the Chumash to live. Working as archaeologists, students will make observations, excavate objects, and piece together clues to learn about Chumash Peoples of California.

Take a peek inside our Mobile Museum and preview the fascinating artifacts and cultural resources your students will explore as part of the scientific field research experience inside our Mobile Museum exhibition.

Museum Laboratory

School-Provided Classroom

This portion of the program is a simulation of research conducted in a Museum Laboratory. Students will take on the role of archaeologists and analyze replica artifacts based on real data from archaeological sites in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles counties to draw conclusions about daily life. By interpreting and contextualizing material culture, students learn that the ancestors of the Chumash were a complex society thriving in Southern California, a land rich in natural resources.

Curricular Materials

Archaeology Experience Supplemental Lessons

Thank you to teachers who contributed lessons including Marisa Andrade, Christina Bludau, Leslie Huey, Juana Medina, Jenifer Roosevelt, and Carol Williard.

Connections to Standards

Science and Engineering Practices

1. Asking questions and defining problems

2. Developing and using models

3. Planning and carrying out investigations

4. Analyzing and interpreting data

6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions

7. Engaging in argument from evidence

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Crosscutting Concepts

1. Patterns

2. Cause and effect

3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context.

1. Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes).

2. Trace the ways in which people have used the resources of the local region and modified the physical environment.

3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past.

1. Discuss the ways in which physical geography, including climate, influenced how the local Indian nations adapted to their natural environment (e.g., how they obtained food, clothing, tools).

4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California.

3. Identify the state capital and describe the various regions of California, including how their characteristics and physical environments (e.g., water, landforms, vegetation, climate) affect human activity.

5. Use maps, charts, and pictures to describe how communities in California vary in land use, vegetation, wildlife, climate, population density, architecture, services, and transportation.

4.2 Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.

1. Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.

English Language Arts

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1
SL.3-5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.6
L.3-5.6 Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal relationships.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3
RI.3-5.3 Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.7
W.3-5.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.8.9
W.3-5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

An Archaeology Experience

Working as archaeologists, students piece together clues to learn about the Chumash peoples of California.

Program Overview

Program Objectives

Fieldwork

Museum Laboratory

Curricular Materials

Connections to Standards

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An Archaeology Experience

Working as archaeologists, students piece together clues to learn about the Chumash peoples of California.

Program Overview

Program Objectives

Fieldwork

Museum Laboratory

Curricular Materials

Connections to Standards

NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS

CALIFORNIA HISTORY-SOCIAL SCIENCE STANDARDS

COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS

Join & Give

Follow Us

Stay up to Date