Metropolitan Museum of Art: Earth Materials and Ancient Cultures
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Urban Geology

Wayne Powell

Brooklyn College

This activity has been reviewed by 2 review processes (view details)

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.
This activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process. This review took place as a part of a faculty professional development workshop where groups of faculty reviewed each others' activities and offered feedback and ideas for improvements. To learn more about the process On the Cutting Edge uses for activity review, see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.

Initial Publication Date: April 30, 2008 | Reviewed: October 18, 2012 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

Students investigate properties of earth materials through the lens of art and archeology. It allows ties to other required core curriculum courses (particularly classics and art history), and integrates the use of NYC's cultural resources. Although it is specifically designed for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, the activity design could be applied to any other museum setting in which there are a variety of stone artifacts.

Igneous Rocks, Metamorphic Rocks, Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks | College Introductory

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Context

Audience

This is a two-week lab exercise for an undergraduate, required course for non-majors that is part of a core curriculum, and in particular was designed to tie concepts with a gen-ed course in classics.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students require an introduction to rocks and minerals, weathering, plate tectonics, and general knowledge of the ancient cultures associated with the activity.

How the activity is situated in the course

It is a stand-alone exercise in a series of 12 labs.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Origin and properties of rocks and minerals

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Synthesis of concepts between science, art and social science.

Other skills goals for this activity

Use of basic maps (floor plans); working in groups

Description of the activity/assignment

Students in a learning community that includes classics and geology complete labs involving rocks and minerals. The class meets at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on a weekend; in groups, the students document and describe the earth materials displayed in art halls of ancient cultures. The following week reformed groups meet in class to compare and contrast their museum-based findings and explore the geological concepts that underlie the use of materials by ancient cultures (jigsaw assignment). It is assumed that students have some prior knowledge of the ancient cultures being studied at the museum through a paired course, assigned reading, or introductory lecture.