Grade

7-9

Any questions?
Digging Up the
Reach out Future
svcamp@engr.uvic.ca
 Virtual Excavation
Expedition
Campers will learn about excavation techniques, then do their own virtual
excavation!

Materials
Computer with internet connection

Key Words & Concepts

Archaeology: the study of what
people made, used, and left behind.
The word “Archaeology” comes
from a greek word which means
ancient. It uses material remains to
determine human history.
Archeology is a broad field of study.
Therefore, most archaeologists
focus on a particular region of the world or a specific topic of research. This way
they have an in-depth knowledge of their topic allowing them to become experts
on that time period or topic.

Archaeologists: people that study archaeology. They ask a question and develop a
hypothesis about past humans. They also excavate and study features and artifacts
which help them discover how people lived.

Features: are non-portable remains such as the pyramids

Artifacts: are portable remains including clothes, tools, and decorations

Fossil: the remains or imprint of an organism. It can be preserved in a petrified form

or as a mold or cast in a rock. The tissues of the organism may be preserved as
well.
 Virtual Excavation
Expedition
Procedure
Virtual Dig Site:
1) Use the following link to find the virtual excavation game we will use in this
activity: https://games.dig-itgames.com/game_directory/excavate-egypt-free/

2) Click on “New Game”. Read (or get a parent to read) the introduction about the
four excavation sites in Egypt, then click “Next”.

3) Choose one of the four excavation sites: Alexandria, Giza, Valley of the Kings,
or Karnak. These are all real excavation sites in Egypt!

4) Next, you will have to choose your tools for digging. The first excavation spot
you will come across is a “test trench” that will allow you to try out some
different tools to see how they work. We want to clear away as much dirt as
possible without harming the artifacts that are buried in the dirt! Read the text
boxes from your virtual archaeologist guide, and click “Next”.

5) There should be a box at the bottom of your screen that says “Tools” with
photos of different excavation tools that you can use. Choosing the right tools
for the job will be very important for the success of your excavation. To find out
what each tool does, click on the tool and your virtual archaeologist guide will
give you some information on how to use that particular tool. If you forget
what a tool does, just click on the icon in the top right corner and it will give
you the description again.

6) Try to use some different tools to find an artifact in this “test trench”. There are
a few artifacts that you are looking for, be careful not to break them! The three
circles in the bottom left corner represent the three artifacts you are looking
for, so once you have found an artifact, the circle will fill in completely white
(your virtual archaeologist guide will also notify you when you have found an
artifact).
 Virtual Excavation
Expedition
1) Once you are done practicing with the tools and have found all three artifacts,
it will take you to your real dig site! There will be different strata (levels of soil)
in this dig site, with different artifacts in each stratum. There will be five
artifacts to find in “Stratum 1”. Be careful with the tools that you choose - if
you choose a tool that is too big and break the artifact, you will have to start
over!

2) Once you have found all five artifacts in “Stratum 1” of your dig site, it’s time
to move on to Analysis! You will look at each artifact that you found, and try
to guess what it may have been used for to learn a little bit about Egyptian
civilization.

3) When you’ve learned a little bit about the artifacts you found, it’s time to
write a report. There is a fill-in-the-blank lab notebook where you can drag
and drop the options from the bottom left page to the blanks on the right
page. When you think you have the correct answers, click “Submit” on the
bottom left page of the notebook.

4) Once you’ve submitted the correct answers, it will take you to “Stratum 2” of
your dig site! There will be five more artifacts in this dig site for you to find.
Again, make sure you’re careful to use the correct tools when digging so you
don’t break the artifacts!

5) After collecting all of the artifacts in “Stratum 2”, it will again take you to an
Analysis page where you can learn about the function of these artifacts.

6) When you’ve learned about your artifacts, it will take you to another
fill-in-the-blank report.

7) Once you’ve completed the report, it’ll take you to “Stratum 3” of your dig
site. Again, there will be five artifacts to find in this layer. Follow the same
steps as the other strata above to find and learn more about your artifacts!
 #SVatHome

Want to share your

project or results with us?

Email or tag us
@ScienceVenture

Have a question?

Reach us at
svcamp@engr.uvic.ca