Origin Myths . Archaeology . Ancient Civilization Research

Civilizations use origin myths to explain their beginnings and provide a foundation for future generations. Though there are as many origin myths as civilizations, there are striking similarities among them. We watched animated videos of the Sumerian and Chinese origin myths, discussed the similarities and differences and used this to inform the origin myths of the "Imaginary Civilization" encyclopedia entries that the students are working on.

The videos were viewed at The Big Myth. Some of the videos are available on the site's Youtube Channel.

The 3rd / 4th grade classrooms visited the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology this week to get a first hand look at artifacts from the ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Roman worlds. 

Research continued on student projects as students narrowed their focus and used various internet resources to answer a series of guiding questions. They have also begun thinking about artifacts representing what they have learned which will be created in collaboration with Tracy and displayed in our "Pop-up" museum.