Overview of the American Indian Archeology in the Middle School Project.

A project to create a series of archaeology teaching modules and resource guides on American Indians for junior high school social studies is described. University personnel in charge of the project participated with junior high school teachers in the planning and development of the modules and guides. The unifying theme is the diversity of American Indian groups. The groups are explored from the perspective of archaeological inquiry using information from prehistory, linguistics, tribal traditions, and other sources. Activities include data gathering, hypothesis testing, analysis, and drawing conclusions from evidence. The 10 modules currently being developed focus on methods of the archaeological study of the past, culture areas in North America, the use of computers in archaeology, American Indian language families, the origins of corn, the techniques of pottery making, religious practices, pueblos, the cultural sequence of North America, and the archaeology of the Colonial Period. Teaching guides provide background on the relationship of prehistory, ethnology, linguistics, and physical anthropology to archaeology; basic techniques of building a sandbox site; directions for making representative pottery; introductory lessons in American Indian linguistics; and recipes for a typical meal. Some units are suitable for art and science education. (KC)