Suggested Activities for Anooka’s Answer

ANOOKA’S ANSWER

Garbology Game

Prehistoric archaeologists must try to determine how ancient people lived who left behind no written records. They do this by searching for the remnants and discards of the past. From this recovered evidence, they try to find out what people ate and how they procured their food, how they sheltered themselves, what clothes and adornment they wore, what their tools and weapons were, and whether or not they traded with other groups.

The following game, "GARBOLOGY," has been designed to help students think like archaeologists. It is most successfully played at the end of the book and can–and should–be lively!

1. Place in front of the class a random group of artifacts (may be made of cardboard or drawn on paper) that could have been discarded 12,000 years ago by Anooka’s clan.

Consider using a broken harpoon or spear, fish bones, an arrowhead, pieces of a small, fired clay animal, a worn boot, an ivory pendant, a fish knife, fire-sticks, and a scrap of animal fur used as clothing or bedding.

2. Have the students write down or discuss as a group what can be said about the people who left these things behind. Be sure your students make careful distinctions between assumptions (perhaps the clay animal had a religious meaning; maybe they had invented a bow and arrow; etc.) and factual evidence (they wore jewelry; they knew how to start a fire; they ate fish; etc.).

3. Now assemble another pile of discards, this time from our own lives. Consider using a broken T.V. remote control, an empty can of food, a worn book, a clock with a dead battery, a wheel from a toy, a flashlight with a burnt out bulb, etc. Have the class pretend that they have discovered these items 12,000 years from now.

4. What can be said about the people who left these things behind? Again, have students make thoughtful distinctions between assumptions (perhaps the wheel was used for transportation; telling time seemed to be important to them) and factual evidence (they had mastered the technology for remote control; they had a good food storage system; they had invented writing; they had the ability to produce artificial light; etc.