Investigate Archaeology

Activity Title

Objective

Activity

Resources

A Roof Over Your Head

To investigate Roofing

To find out what roofs are made of in your area by carrying out a survey and then making your own roof and testing it out to withstand water.

Clipboards, paper, pencils, Air drying clay, Lolly sticks or similar, Glue gun or panel pins and hammer, Water and measuring jug, A sponge, A tray or similar item that can hold water, Photographs/drawings of tiles from different periods (optional, see worksheet)

Dyeing to Meet You

To explore how clothes were dyed

To make natural fabric dyes and then dye fabric.

Some white wool or fabric to dye or SDC multi-fibre strips (see suppliers section at end of this activity) – cut in pieces small enough to fit in a beaker,

A selection of the following:

Turmeric, Saffron, Henna,

Onion skin, Red cabbage, Bilberries, Blackcurrants, Tea, Coffee ,Indigo

Malt Vinegar - (for acid), Bicarbonate of soda (baking powder) – (for alkali), Beakers/glasses, Spatulas/teaspoons, Kettle & water, A saucepan and access to a kitchen hob, Measuring jug

Getting Dressed

To find out what kind of clothes people wore in the ancient world.

Create a greek costume and investigate other costumes

1 sheet, big safety pins and a length of cord

Greek Writing

To discover how the Greek’s communicated

To learn the Greek alphabet and decipher some words written in greek.

Pen, Paper and worksheets

Human Loom Games

To investigate how cloth was made in the ancient world

To learn about weaving and then create a human loom. Finally make some woven cloth

Two lengths of different coloured washing line rope, two lengths of wool, a metal or wooden spoon, card, scissors, a pencil and some wool

Salt of the Earth

To investigate the importance of salt and how it can be extracted

To extract salt from fake urine using evaporation

Water, Salt, Yellow food colouring, Night light or other heat source, Evaporating dish or other shallow heat proof vessel, Tongs, Heat resistant mat, Safety goggles, Matches or splint