Category Archives: Kids Blog

Throwback Thursday! KIDS’ BLOG: Rain, Rain Go Away: Ancient Weather, Modern Predictions

Posted on May 23, 2019 | Leave a comment

Subtropical Storm Andrea Released to Public: Subtropical Storm Andrea, May 8, 2007 by NASA/MODIS

Hurricane season 2019 hasn’t even begun yet and we’ve already had our first official named storm: Andrea. Sure, she came and went pretty quickly, but it was a reminder that these storms are unpredictable and they appear and disappear according to their own timetable. And yet, we must continue to try and predict when the next weather event is going to affect us. We need to know when, where and how bad is it going to be. Technological advances in meteorology have made it possible for us to look into the future and predict with more precise accuracy than our ancestors could have imagined. But for all of our fancy tech, we haven’t forgotten the importance of our past. In the blog post, KIDS’ BLOG: Rain, Rain Go Away: Ancient Weather, Modern, we explore how scientists continue to use information about our ancient weather past to learn about and better predict the storms of the future. And, because it’s a Kids’ Blog, we’ve got an awesome activity built right in to the post!

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Kids Blog, Kids: Meteorology, Kids: Natural Disasters, Meteorology

Tagged , , , ,

Throwback Thursday! Perfectly Preserved Petroglyphs

Posted on June 23, 2016 | 1 comment
Siberian petroglyphs. Image taken by Sergei Alkin.

Siberian petroglyphs. Image taken by Sergei Alkin.

It is said “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but some pictures are worth much more than that. Some ancient pictures are worth a thousand years of history and knowledge. These images tell stories about our ancestors and they help us to understand our past.

Recently, a fascinating find in Siberia was revealed for the first time and it provides a 4,000-year-old window into the ancient past. When scientists were alerted to its presence three years ago, they decided to keep it a secret in order to protect the site while they studied and cataloged its treasures. Now, for the first time, its location has been made public and our eager eyes can feast upon the perfectly preserved art. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in Art, Blog, Culture, Kids Blog, Kids: Art, Kids: Culture

Tagged , , , , , , ,

May Is AntiquityNOW Month!

Posted on May 2, 2016 | Leave a comment

AN News Grey

May is a month of celebration for us at AntiquityNOW. This is the time we commemorate how the past is not as distant as we may think.

AN Month bigHere’s how we’ve previously described why we take a month each year to give special attention to the past:

During May we celebrate all things ancient, with a modern twist. From 2,000 year old nanotechnology to today’s supercomputers, from earliest chanted rituals to electronic bloviations, the arc of human history has been, shall we say, complicated. As sentient beings, we have constructed marvels in word and deed. We have also destroyed and obliterated that which we don’t understand and those we choose not to recognize. We strut, preen, cogitate, ruminate—we make an altogether spectacular tragicomedy as we shuffle along this mortal coil. Humans are a confounding lot who often are doomed to repeat the very histories we disregard. Here lies the fascination with looking to the past as it reflects our very modern sense of self.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in AntiquityNOW News, Blog, Culture, Kids Blog, Public Life

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

AntiquityNOW Launches The Slavery Project With an Exploration of the Triangular Trade

Posted on December 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

The Slavery Project

Sunday, December 6, was the 150th Anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States. This was a landmark ruling effectively changing forever the way in which the United States recognized and valued its people. For millions of former slaves, it was the difference between being seen as property and the recognition of personhood and all that it conferred.  The “peculiar institution”[1] had been a stain on the history of Great Britain and the United States in the early years of colonization. As abolition sentiments arose in the North and as the expansion west threatened the slave v. non-slave states calculus, slavery devolved into a sectional dispute. The South had built an economy based upon slave labor and abolition was vehemently opposed. The Civil War may have politically settled the question of slavery’s abolition, but the social and political fallout were profound. Inarguably, the currents of slavery have run deep in American life and its consequences are felt even today. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Culture, Education, Human Rights, Kids Blog, Public Life

Tagged , , , , , , ,

The LegacyQuest 2016 Letter of Intent Deadline is Approaching!

Posted on December 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

It’s not too late to get involved! Contact us if you need an extension.

Letter of Intent Deadline- December 11, 2015

Final Entry Submission Deadline- February 26, 2016

LegacyQuest large logo blue borderAntiquityNOW (AN) and Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) are announcing a call for entries for the 2016 LegacyQuest International Children’s Film and Video Festival. The Festival is open to young people between the ages of 12 and 15 (6th – 8th grades) in the United States and abroad.  It will be held in conjunction with The Archaeology Channel (TAC) International Film and Video Festival, May 11-15, 2016, in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Films must be produced in 2015 and 2016. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Education, Kids Blog, Kids: Education, Kids: Public Life, LegacyQuest, Public Life

Tagged , , , , ,

Happy Hanukkah from AntiquityNOW: Children’s Crafts for the Festival of Lights

Posted on December 7, 2015 | Leave a comment

IMG_0862For Jews around the world Hanukkah is a season of family and remembrance, and what better way to celebrate the joy and miracle of this ancient holiday than seeing the ingenuity of students from the Hollis Hills Jewish Center Nursery School in Queens, New York.

Students at the school range from ages 18 months through five years old. The slideshow below illustrates the work of children from three classes. The Lego menorah was created by a student and her father.  The children were learning about the story of the Maccabees and the miracle of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, where a small vessel of olive oil burned in the menorah for eight days at the Holy Temple. The pictures of the Hebrew letters Nun, Gimmel, Hey and Shin are translated “Great Miracle Happened There” (in Israel “Here” is substituted). Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Art, Blog, Culture, Holidays, Kids Blog, Kids: Art, Kids: Culture, Kids: Holidays, Kids: Public Life, Public Life

Tagged , , , , , ,

Throwback Thursday! Ancient Games and Toys

Posted on December 3, 2015 | Leave a comment

Roman_dice_IMG_4367It is the season of toys! Parents are scouring store shelves for the most popular gadgets and games to wrap up for the holiday season. Today’s most prized playthings may take more batteries than those of the ancients, but our ancestors still knew how to have a good time. Consider the recent findings at a 1,900 year old Roman settlement in Germany. Archaeologists uncovered a board game piece and a die, proving the soldiers who lived there weren’t all work, no play. Read the complete article here.

Further evidence of ancient playtime was discovered in a  2,300-year-old tomb near Qingzhou City in China. The heavily looted site still holds valuable treasures, including pieces from a mysterious board game. “Archaeologists found a 14-face die made of animal tooth, 21 rectangular game pieces with numbers painted on them and a broken tile which was once part of a game board.”[1] They believe these pieces were used to play a game called “Bo” that hasn’t been played in 1,500 years. Click here to read more about this fascinating find.

To learn more about how our ancient ancestors amused themselves, check out our Kids’ Blog, Ancient Toys, Wii and You!

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Kids: Public Life, Kids: Recreation, Public Life, Recreation

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Strata: Portraits of Humanity, Episode 13, “Syracuse 3D Reborn”

Posted on November 27, 2015 | Leave a comment

StrataImage-webThe latest entry in the video news-magazine series Strata:  Portraits of Humanity, produced by AntiquityNOW’s partner, Archaeological Legacy Institute, offers a feast for the eyes. It captures in astonishing dimension and detail the glorious city of Syracuse, in its time the epitome of Greek enterprise, art and culture. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Architecture, Blog, Computer Technology, Culture, Kids Blog, Science and Technology, Strata Curricula

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

DON’T MISS OUT! Call for Entries for 2016 LegacyQuest International Children’s Film and Video Festival

Posted on October 19, 2015 | Leave a comment

LegacyQuest large logo blue border

Letter of Intent Deadline- December 11, 2015

Final Entry Submission Deadline- February 26, 2016

Not sure how to get started with your LegacyQuest video submission? We’re here to help! First, check out our page called Tips for Making a Video for LegacyQuest. Next, think about what interest and excites you. Do you like art, science, cooking, video games, reading…? Whatever your passion, there’s a fascinating link to the past that you can explore. Feel free to contact us for help getting inspired to make the best video ever!

View our invitational video below and visit our webpage for details about the festival and how your students can get involved!

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Education, Kids Blog, Kids: Education

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

KIDS’ BLOG! Write Your Own Tale of Terror!

Posted on October 1, 2015 | Leave a comment

book-758978_640What words best describe Halloween? Spooky? Scary? Terrifying? Like many of us, you probably like to be scared. Well, this Halloween we’re giving you the chance to really strut your creative stuff. You get to write your own tale of terror. But we at AntiquityNOW are giving you a challenge. We’re providing you the beginnings and endings of stories, which means you pick one beginning and one ending to bookend your story. And—drum roll—you must include an element of ancient history in your story. Just look around at today’s books and movies. How many have to do with time travel to an ancient place, an artifact that has magical powers or a mystery that had its origins in Ancient Egypt or Rome or Mesopotamia? The distant past is filled with possibilities for storytelling. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in Blog, Culture, Kids Blog, Kids: Culture, Kids: Literature, Literature

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,