Internet Field Trip: Sites to Dig

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It's one thing to learn about how people in early America used candlelight, but it's quite another to see a 16th-century candlestick found at Jamestown. It's also great to read about dinosaurs, but truly amazing to look at a fossil of a dinosaur skull. At dig sites around the world, archaeologists discover fossils, relics, and artifacts, which enlarge our understanding of the past. You may not be able to trek to those places personally, but the Web offers many "dig sites" to explore the excavations of archaeologists.

Start in Egypt, where archeologists are fitting together pieces of ancient life at the Pyramids. Baking pots unearthed by archaeologists, for instance, were used to bake bread for the pyramid builders.

Studying the Roman Empire? Tour a Roman villa in Germany dating from the first century, preserved based on the discoveries of remains by archaeologists. The stone bath and kitchen provide a vivid picture of life at that time.

Of course, dig "sites" around the world include finds from a past not just hundreds but millions of years ago. At Dino Russ's Lair, check out the dinosaur digs! In France, the discovery of a Paleolithic decorated cave has yielded not only paintings but other traces of human activity 30,000 years ago, such as flintstones, hearths, and footprints.

Fast forward thousands of years to the early 1600s to examine the lives of modern ancestors, in Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America. Find out how archaeologists use items such as coins and ceramic jugs to date a site. All of this digging is sure to make you wonder what archaeological treasures are buried in your own town.

What Color Were the Dinosaurs?
Scientists' theories vary about what color skin dinosaurs may have had.

What Did Dinosaurs Eat?
Scientists can tell whether a dinosaur was a plant-eater, a meat-eater, or both, by studying its teeth.

Digging Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs didn't just walk the Earth long ago -- they lived underground too! That's what scientists learned when they discovered the first species of a burrowing dinosaur. The discovery will go on display this summer at Montana State University's Museum of the Rockies.

LESSON PLAN

Dinosaurs! Students explore dinosaur-related content study the characteristics of some dinosaurs, classify dinosaurs using a time line, craft questions...