Neighborhood Archaeology: Using Archaeology Education to Teach Local History

Purpose of the Study:\ud Classroom based archaeology education programs for elementary age students are often geared mostly to the science curriculum and are based on non-local, aggrandized archaeological sites. Archaeology educational materials created by professional archaeologists are often given to the teachers without any collaboration or input from them.\ud The purpose of this study was to create a collaborative archaeology education program geared to the social studies curriculum that is based on a local heritage site to help connect elementary students living in an urban, multi-cultural city to their own history and sense of place.\ud Procedure:\ud To design the archaeology education program, a collaborative approach that addressed both the needs of the client, in this case the Presidio Archaeology Lab and local San Francisco Bay Area Teachers and students was taken.\ud To determine what type of educational program to create, a survey was sent to third grade teachers in San Francisco to find out what type of archaeology education program would be of use to them in teaching their students about local history and heritage. Based on their feedback, a teaching kit of tangible materials was created and tested within the classrooms and four different methods of evaluation were used to determine what to change in the future.\ud Findings:\ud Based on the results of evaluations given to students at the completion of the teaching\ud kit, evaluations given to the teachers, the notes taken by the Archaeology Education\ud Intern who taught the lessons and a follow up interview at the Presidio Archaeology\ud Lab to reevaluate the Presidio Archaeology Lab's educational goals and missions, it\ud was determined what changes were to be made to the teaching kit for the second phase of the project.\ud Conclusions:\ud To create a successful archaeology education program, a collaborative effort between the client and the teachers and students is crucial The needs of both the Presidio Archaeology Lab and the teachers and students within the San Francisco Unified School District will likely change over time, so reevaluating on a regular basis allows for a successful program and the best experience for the students to learn about and make a meaningful connection to the history.\ud By connecting students living in an urban and diverse city to the history of the Presidio, the hope is that they will begin to feel like the Presidio is a part of their history and will become future stewards of that local heritage site