Searching for a Shipwreck
For 6 to 10 years. Up to 20 participants in groups of 2 to 3
The workshops :
Underwater exploration
Studying amphorae
LAncient trade along the shores of the Mediterranean was intense: wine, oil, salted fish and grain were the four main products to be traded. Archaeologists have discovered an ancient shipwreck that they are going to excavate. This activity invites children to discover the work of archaeologists underwater and on the surface. The Underwater Exploration workshop looks at underwater technologies used in archaeology (why a boat floats, how to find a wreck, water pressure, mapping). The amphora study workshop will introduce children to the procedures for studying a pottery shard (filling in an inventory form, studying the shard, reconstitution, identification and typology). The workshop ends with a riddle to solve: based on the clues gathered by the children from the different amphorae, what was the likely route of the ship before it sank?
Learning objectives
- Learn to observe and interpret
- Learn about the study of matter (composition of an object)
- Build up a precise vocabulary to describe what you see
- Develop a deductive approach
- Learn how to order and classify
- Learn how to read a map
The activity
The 10 children in each activity work in pairs. The activity lasts 1 hour 30 mins if the children do just one of the two workshops (including feedback) or 2 hours 30 mins if they do both workshops in succession. It is advisable to have two activity leaders for the initial sessions.