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Teaching Leave No Trace

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Activity Plan 

  Leave What You Find: A Leave No Trace activity exploring natural and archeological areas

Steps for Teaching the Activity - 30 Minutes Beam Me Down:   Break the group into two science teams. Explain that the two teams will take turns visiting the planet. One team will beam down to observe the site while the other waits in side. Have the first team view the objects and site with out picking up the artifacts. Tell them to remember their initial immersion of the site and be able to describe what the people that lived here were doing. After viewing the site, have each person in the first team pick up one of the objects and hide it so it is not visible. This leaves only half the objects to tell the story when the second team arrives. Beam down the second science team, and have them look at the site and the remaining artifacts. Have each person from this team pick up an artifact. Tell them to remember their initial immersion of the site and be able to describe what the people that lived here were doing.

Time Out for Discussion:

 

1. Have both teams sit down together. Ask the second team to describe their immersion of the site and past civilization. What did they learn about this past culture based upon the artifacts they found?
2. Have the first team show the artifacts they removed from the site. Ask the first team to describe their impression of the site and civilization. What did they learn about this past culture based upon their evaluation of the site when all the artifacts were present?

Go back to the site and discuss what later excavators might think about this site. What immersion would they have now that all of the artifacts are gone? How is the value of the site changed when all artifacts are re moved? How does this activity help participants understand the efforts of today's archeologists?

Wrapping Up the Activity: 30 Minutes. Your group of scientists knows the importance of leaving items they find in their natural setting. A discussion will tell how well each person has learned the value of this lesson.

Discuss the idea that the items discovered by the group represent artifacts and evidence about our culture. Similarly, the artifacts we sometimes find in the outdoors provide valuable information about people who lived here long ago.

 

• Have each person relate the object they found on their science mission to something that might be found on public lands (from Native Americans or pioneers). Have the group summarize why it is important for people to leave what they find. Clarify the difference between objects of historical value and common trash or debris. If necessary, remind people that it is against the law to remove or destroy cultural resources.
• Talk about what people do with artifacts when they take them home. Generally the artifact sits on a shelf or in a drawer. How much pleasure does it bring when it is re moved from the site? Have the group brainstorm ways to enjoy and learn from an archaeological site without taking the artifacts home.
• Important: Discuss how leaving what you find applies to plants, animals, and the outdoor setting in general. Picking flowers, removing antlers or petrified wood, cutting tree branches, building lean-tos and chairs, moving rocks and stumps, carving on trees and stone, and digging tent trenches are all examples of ways people detract from the natural out doors. Use the Background Information to lead discussion.

Additional Activities:

• Visit an archeological site. Discuss what might have been found there 1000 years ago, 100 years ago, and 10 years ago.
• Take a garbage can and tip it over. What do the con tents tell you about the people? Which contents are likely to remain unchanged for hundreds of years? What will people in the future think about our culture when they examine our garbage?

Congratulations on conducting a well-prepared meeting for your group!