Submitted by Teresa Groover and Tom Gresham

SGA’s ArchaeoBus, nicknamed Abby, visited a week-long Girl Scout Eco-camp in Oglethorpe County in July, 2011.

The leader of the camp, Amy Glinski, was an archaeologist who is now a teacher. She still loves archaeology and wanted to bring the ArchaeoBus and a message about how Native Americans were finely tuned to the environment of the Southeast to the camp.

On July 19th Tom Gresham, Teresa Groover, and Amy presented a half day of programming and hands-on activities to 40 girls who ranged from 6 to 13 years old.

As always happens, the striking visual image of the ArchaeoBus immediately created a swirl of excitement. The programming began with some basics on archaeology, including two teams digging shovel tests, dealing with the resulting paperwork and interpreting the results. Since the site formerly housed several mobile homes, there was much to find.

We then had the girls cycle through the ArchaeoBus and five stations that covered the topics of hunting and gathering, Indian housing, agriculture, pottery, and analytical reasoning (analyzing pennies). Each station activity lasted about 20 minutes.

We think this was another successful venture for the ArchaeoBus and was a slightly different audience and setting. We are finding that the ArchaeoBus is readily adaptable to a wide range of audiences.

[Look for the ArchaeoBus this fall at CoastFest (October 1st, in Brunswick) and at the Georgia National Fair (October 6th through 16th). SGA members are invited to volunteer to work with crowds at the SGA booth and ArchaeoBus display. Click here to email Rita Elliot and volunteer to help the SGA’s outreach program. For maps to these events, check the SGA calendar online here.]{.small}

Posted online on Friday, July 29th, 2011