INQUIRY 8

THE DATING GAME

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INQUIRY PROBLEM:

Inspecta Detecta has invited you to tour her lab where she spends many hours trying to solve the mysteries of the past. On the tour, you notice a dark corner fitted with white metal shelves on which an unusual collection of objects has been placed. A clipboard hangs on a hook, and the note on it reads, "To be dated." Cryptic letters are scribbled in a column on the paper. Before you can get a good look, you are hurried along on the tour. As your class is leaving, your curiosity overcomes your shyness. "Inspecta Detecta?"
     "Yes," she replies.
     "I was wondering what those things were in that corner where it said, "TO BE DATED."
     "Oh," Inspecta says, her eyebrows raised. "So you want to play The Dating Game? Okay, if you can decipher the date codes on the clipboard and tell me what they mean, you can help date the objects. I hope you're feeling like a true time detective, because these objects are pretty tough. When you're ready, check your date code answers at www.historylab.org in the 'Activities' section. Good luck!"

DESCRIPTION

Classroom Innovation Activity:
Students define each date abbreviation, then identify the most suitable method for dating each object.

TOPIC AREAS

• Biological Time
• Geologic Time
• Mechanical Time
• Pre-historic & historic time
• Technological innovation

MATERIALS NEEDED

• Internet access
• Dictionaries & old catalogs
• Geologic Time chart
• Explanations of dating techniques
• Patent number chart

IMPLEMENTATION

1. Students try to decipher the date codes using books and other sources. Answers may be individually checked via the website, or the teacher can print out the information and use it as an answer key.
   TIME: 1 hour + homework if necessary
2. Once students have deciphered the time vocabulary from Inspecta Detecta's clipboard, they are to match the dating technique to its kind of time and objects.
   TIME: 45-60 minutes
3. Students review the objects on Inspecta Detecta's shelves (via the website) and try to apply the appropriate dating technique to the object. Have the students calculate the "BMe" date of three objects.
   TIME: 1 hour
4. Patent dates: All students use the Internet to look up the patent number on the Steam-o-Matic iron and determine its circa date. Students then select an object of their own (make sure each one has a patent date on it) on which to apply patent date research.
   TIME: 25-45 minutes + homework if necessary

REFERENCES

Northwest Exposures: A Geologic Story of the Northwest. David Alt and Donald Hyndman. Missoula, MT: Mountain Press, 1995.

Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn. New York: Thames and Hudson, Ltd., 1991.

Dictionary of Geological Terms. Robert L. Bates & Julia A. Jackson. New York: Doubleday, 1984.

Dover reproduction catalogs

Author: SL
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