Summer course for teachers includes archaeology in Virginia City, Montana

April 30, 2010 - PRLog -- A four-day Montana State University summer graduate course will plunge teachers into the history of two Montana gold-rush towns -- Virginia City and Nevada City.

The course, "Project Archaeology: Educator Field School" (EDCI 588-56), offers two graduate credits and is designed for upper-grade elementary teachers. Working closely with historians, educators and archaeologists, teachers will spend two days in the classroom and two days in the field excavating an archaeological site in Nevada City. The course runs Aug. 9-12.

The course is based on the curriculum "Project Archaeology: Investigating Shelter," and teachers will receive a full copy of the curriculum materials for use in their classrooms. The modules help teachers use the exciting field of archaeology to introduce concepts in mathematics, history, art, language, social studies, and scientific inquiry. Teachers--and later their students--will use maps, illustrations, historic photographs and oral histories to solve historical and archaeological mysteries.

On-site hotel accommodations are available, and teachers from throughout the United States are encouraged to participate.

Virginia City is a well-preserved gold mining town, with more than 100 historic buildings, a refurbished steam engine and stagecoach. Nevada City was host to the well-known PBS series "Frontier House" families as they learned to surviv¬e in a simulation of the 1883 Rocky Mountain frontier.

The MSU course is $500 for either Montana or out-of-state residents and includes a full set of take-home classroom materials. Hotel rooms are available at an additional charge of $20/person per night, double occupancy.

The course is offered through MSU Extended University by Project Archaeology, which is based in MSU's Department of Anthropology.

For more information or to register online, visit bit.ly/cNWjq8
Enrollment is limited and early registration is encouraged.

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Extended University is an outreach arm of Montana State University offering continuing education and professional development, distance learning and public outreach programs.