Teacher's Notes
Capo-Di-Monte Porcelain

"We learn so much from studying old cultures, from
other countries and America, too."

What Museums Collect:

The dictionary definition of an artifact is an object made or used by humans. To museum professionals it is an object specifically selected for preservation, exhibition, and study. To some students it is an item that is old, broken, or of little relevance to their world. In truth, an artifact may have been created 10,000 years ago in Europe, last month in Indonesia, or this morning at the local jewelry shop. An artifact may be the cast that helps set a student's broken leg or the ancient set of written laws that serve as the basis for a student's national government. Museums collect artifacts because when carefully studied and preserved they can be used by museum professionals to teach about societies thousands of miles away, thousands of years away, or in their own backyards. Each artifact can tell a number of stories about a culture: its beliefs and traditions, entertainment and education, homes and families.

The Lesson: "What Do You Learn from Artificats?"

The main goals of this lesson are to

• teach the students the meaning of the word artifact
• demonstrate how artifacts can be used to educate people about societies

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