October 2

Social 9 01 Exploring the Past with Modern Technology

We live in a great time in human development, with all the modern advancements and inventions of our time. We receive messages to our watches and can tell a device to turn off the lights and put a movie on for us. We live in awesome times!

 

But every advancement we’ve made has only been a further development of the discoveries and inventions made before us by previous civilizations from around the world. Luxuries we take for granted every day, including the wheel, running water or indoor toilets, literature, schools, and even democracy and voting, all these came from other societies of the past. And we’re very grateful for them all!

This is what Social 9 is about – investigating what previous civilizations learn and understood as they adapted to survive in their environment or against territorial advancement. Ancient peoples

such as the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Chinese Dynasties or Mongolians, the Greeks and Romans as well as the Mayans and Incas. All these groups contributed something to modern living – this is the focus of study in this class.

To begin, let’s look at how archeologists, researchers studying past artifacts and peoples, study findings today. With our continued advancements in technology, we’re finding newer and safer ways to learn without possibly disturbing what’s left from the past. Example: The image above is of a skeleton pair found many years ago. By testing their bones, it’s only recently been discovered that they are not a male and female, as previously assumed by their posing, but instead are two males. There’s what is inferred about the past and what can be proven about it!

Video Viewing: 
While you watch, take notes about the types of Modern (newer inventions) used to study evidence from the past. We’ll share/discuss your list after watching.

After Watching Websearch: What are the original tools and methods of archeology? 
Dig around online to discover and make a list of traditional tools archeologists rely on. We’ll share/discuss when you’ve finished.

Sample website to start with – Tools used by Archeologists