Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom

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The听Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom听project, modeled after the听Fossils in the Classroom, continues to enhance and expand the Museum鈥檚 and University鈥檚 outreach efforts across the state by providing much needed hands-on resources on archaeology to teachers and students. This project provides classroom kits featuring hands-on artifacts and casts, standards-based curriculum, in-district teacher professional development and a classroom presentation. The response from teachers to the kits has been overwhelmingly positive, as a hands-on and affordable resource for teaching Colorado history.听

The Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom听is developed for Colorado School Districts by:

  • Dr. Stephen Lekson, Ph.D.听Professor, Anthropology, and Curator of Archaeology, CU Museum of Natural History, Boulder.
  • Dr. Samantha Fladd, Assistant听Professor, Anthropology, and Curator of Archaeology, CU Museum of Natural History, Boulder.
  • Dr. William Taylor,听Assistant听Professor, Anthropology and Curator of Archaeology, CU Museum of Natural History, Boulder.
  • Jim Hakala,听Senior Educator, CU Museum of Natural History, Boulder.

Partners in the Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom project include:

  • provides educational materials for the Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom kits and collaborates in the in-district teacher training for the project.
  • The provides printed and digital educational materials for the Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom kits.
  • The (BLM) "Discovering Archaeology in Colorado" and "Intrigue of the Past" is used with BLM's collaboration as the curriculum/teacher guide for the kits. This standards-based curriculum is widely used and well established in the field.
  • The provides the publication "Ancient Colorado: An Archaeological Perspective" for inclusion in the classroom kits.听
  • The in Cortez, CO provided important visual timeline materials and hundreds of pottery sherds for inclusion in the kits.
  • The , provided hundreds of pottery sherds for inclusion in the classroom kits.
  • advertises and manages the logistics for the Colorado Archaeology classroom presentation.

To find out how to get a Colorado Archaeology kit and curriculum for your classroom or school, arrange an in-district teacher training, and/or a presentation for your classroom, please contact Jim Hakala, Senior Educator, University of Colorado Museum of Natural History at 303-492-4458, or听james.hakala@colorado.edu.

Colorado Archaeology in the Classroom听is generously funded by the听University of Colorado Boulder听Office of Strategic Relations and Communications and the University of Colorado Boulder Museum of Natural History.