Students from the Rochester City School District are doing real archaeological digs on campus this week, part of the Rochester Young Scholars Academy at Geneseo camp to develop interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. One group found a Native American artifact thought by archaeologists to be between 3,000 and 6,000 years old. Sixty students are participating in the two-week camp.
GENESEO, N.Y. – Rising fifth- through 11th- grade students from the Rochester City School District are doing real-life archaeological digs on the SUNY Geneseo campus through July 22 as part of the Rochester Young Scholars Academy at Geneseo (RYSAG) summer camp, the 10th year of the highly regarded program.
One of the student dig teams discovered the base of a projectile point (dart head) on campus from the Brewerton Age believed to be 3,000-6,000 years old.
The 60 students are part of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) camp titled “Discovering the Iroquois: An Archaeological Dig,” designed to interest them in science and history through an intensive two-week residential thematic camp. The students are not only involved in a real archaeological dig on campus but are receiving training on identifying evidence, documenting the site using digital photography, mapping and forensic sciences. Students will learn to think critically and to connect clues through contextual and cultural hints. The students also are doing library-based research and scientific methods in an archaeology lab and receiving training on public speaking skills as well as cooking traditional and contemporary Native American cuisine. The camp includes a field trip to Letchworth State Park, among the most archaeologically rich locations in the state.
“We have had this archaeology theme twice at previous camps and we found it is very successful,” said Susan Norman, camp director and director of Geneseo’s Xerox Center for Multicultural Teacher Education. “Like today, the students in the past have found artifacts believed to be thousands of years old from a prehistoric camp. Experiences like that make science real for these students and peaks their interest in the STEM fields.”
Geneseo faculty members are working with the students on the various phases of their exploration and lab analyses and on their research and public speaking skills. Geneseo undergraduate students and Rochester City School District staff are participating as counselors. The camp will culminate in a closing presentation ceremony July 22.
The RYSAG program continues during the school year through a Saturday school program at the Rochester Public Library, where Geneseo education faculty and students do academic follow-up with the RYSAG students involved in the summer camp to continue developing their critical thinking skills.
Funding this year for the camps is being provided by the Xerox Foundation, the Farash Foundation, SUNY Geneseo, the Rochester City School District and the Greater Rochester Summer Learning Association.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Director
(585) 245-5529
Irwin@geneseo.edu