Archaeology is for everyone! The Archaeology Student Society at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is attempting to create a permanent outdoor, interactive archaeology space for our community at the Orpheum Children's Science Museum (OCSM). Geared towards K-6 grade children, we are attempting to build an archaeological field station with a corresponding mock excavation unit. We have raised a portion of what we need, however our lumber costs alone will use up our hard-raised funds, leaving us a well-built, but very empty and sad field shed. That's where you come in! Help us raise the additional funds needed for our internal exhibits for the field station, signage, and materials for creating the inside of the mock excavation. We would like to begin construction in 3 weeks. Help us create a lasting impact on our community.

Further Details:
The overall strategy of this project involves three-phases in order to effectively and efficiently implement our total vision - Archaeology field station with internal exhibits, mock excavation units, internal signage that narrates the process of archaeology, and an interactive app that helps tie everything together.

Phase I includes building the archaeology field station and the mock excavation units by May 30 for our Grand Reveal. Both the field station and excavation units will utilize the existing open courtyard space at the OCSM. The field station will emphasize the process of archaeology - survey, mapping, excavations, analysis, and curation. The walls will highlight the process narrative through visuals and text. It will also display a number of archaeologists that highlight the diversity within the discipline, encouraging all young children totake an interest. Central to experiencing the process of archaeology, plans include the integration of several hands-on and sensory archaeology stations inside the field station.

The mock excavation units allow children to be participants in the active sensory experience that is archaeology. Plans include a stepped excavation unit representing an historic era upper level and a 1000 year old Mississippian lower level with time specific archaeological features and artifacts in each level.