Alabama Social Studies SS24.3.7
The Standard
Compare and contrast the roles of anthropologists, archaeologists, and paleontologists.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare what three kinds of researchers study and what evidence they use. They tell how studying people and cultures differs from studying objects people left behind or fossils.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student matches an interview with an anthropologist, a pottery shard with an archaeologist, and a fossil leaf with a paleontologist. They explain that all three use evidence to learn about the world.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call anyone who digs an archaeologist, even when the find is a dinosaur fossil. They may think anthropologists study only ancient people or that a pottery shard is a fossil.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Who would study a pottery shard, a fossil leaf, and an interview about family traditions? Name each researcher and explain one way two of their jobs are alike.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut out cards showing a pottery shard, a fossil leaf, and a family interview; pairs place each under the matching researcher label.
Ask, “Why would a pottery shard and a fossil leaf call for different experts?” Have partners explain their answers using evidence.
Play three-corner match: read cards showing a dinosaur fossil, an old tool, or an interview; students move to the matching expert sign.
Show a roadwork photo with pottery pieces and a fossil shell; ask students which expert should examine each find.
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Printable SS24.3.7 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SS24.3.7, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- SS24.HS.4b
Compare and contrast the types of evidence provided by various primary sources.
- SS24.7.4
Explain how artifacts and other archaeological findings provide evidence of the nature and movement of prehistoric groups of people.
- SS24.HS.8a
Compare historical evidence to previous interpretations and corroborate salient facts and theories.
- SS24.S.3
Compare and contrast the three major sociological theories: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction.*
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