The Partnership of Archaeology and Middle School Social Studies: The Creation of the Curriculum-Guided Cypress Street School Archaeology Project, Guilford County, North Carolina

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper will discuss the ongoing Cypress Street School Archaeology Project in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Cypress Street School Archaeology Project is a collaborative effort between New South Associates, Inc. (NSA) and the Melvin C. Swann Jr. Middle School (Swann). In 2020, NSA partnered with the social studies faculty at Swann to provide students with experience researching and surveying the Cypress Street School (31GF601) as part of their social studies curriculum. The Cypress Street School is an early twentieth-century primary school whose buried material are located on Swann’s campus. The work consisted of archival research, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey, and unit excavation. Students were involved in every step of the process, including examining historic maps, participating in the GPR survey, developing research questions, and determining excavation unit locations. The student work was fully integrated into the existing social studies curriculum. The academic year’s work culminated in an excavation at the school site, where every student at Swann learned to excavate, identify artifacts, and examine features, along with a public archaeology event at the Swann’s centennial celebration where the local community, and students and their families were able to take part in additional excavations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36200.0