Archaeology and Early Humans

Videos: National Geographic Kids – watch videos. The videos are only a few minutes long. You can watch multiple or one at a time. Videos should be followed by an activity.

1. All About Archaeology 2. Archaeologists - Career Spotlight 3. Learn About the Mayan's 4. Lost Temples: Mayan Pyramids of ChichenItza 5. Uncover Life in Pompeii 6. The Lost City of Pompeii 7. Explore Ancient Egypt 8. TropicMind.com - Ancient Egypt (this site has online access; they have chat rooms. If your child signs up, please be sure to monitor their use.) 9. China's Terracotta Warriors 10. On Board: Travels with the First Lady in China 11. All About Archaeology Finale

Activities: Below are some ideas for activities. You can find more online. I have linked the kits and Minecraft video. We have also created and linked videos on how to make clay fossils.

Create a dig or purchase a fossil online

1. We chose to dig up a dinosaur because we already had the kit. You can pick your own on Amazon, bury some "fossils" (aka chicken bones or shells) in sand and have your children dig for them; or Pyramid Digs.

2. Go to the museum and see fossils.

3. Make clay or salt dough fossils – Watch video on how to make fossil

4. Make Terracotta Warriors out of clay 5. You can build a dig site on Minecraft 6. 3D prints of a pyramid or terracotta warriors. We did a 3D print of a dinosaur jaw to hold our toothbrushes and soap (pictures at the end of blog)

Early Humans

Videos:

All videos can be found here -> 23andMe/Khan Academy

Human Prehistory

1. Prologue - covers evolution, Homo Erectus, Neanderthal

2. Out of (eastern) Africa - migration out of Africa

3. Weathering the Storm - ice age

4. Agriculture Rocks our World - origins of agriculture

5. Epilogue

Activities:

1. Create the migration of your ancestors. Move your ancestors around the world to areas they have lived. Learn more about those areas. You can view an interactive map HERE.

2. Minecraft – see if you can create countries and have your “family” follow the footsteps of your ancestors.

3. On a map of the world, flat map works best. You can draw people or use figures to represent your ancestors. Move your ancestors across the world and see where they ended up.

4. Create a family tree and map your family’s ancestry. We mapped out our ancestry

Below is a breakdown of mine and my husband’s ancestry. This report is from 23andMe. This report goes back 500 years.

5. Games: You can find many games on BBC.

6. Make a cave drawing