Alcatraz Uncovered excites your students about history's mysteries by using Alcatraz Island as your archeological case study. Besides being a popular national park site, Alcatraz served as a military post from 1854 to 1933, a federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963, the site of an American Indian civil rights protest from 1969 to 1971, nesting site for thousands of birds annually, and the subject of many Hollywood movies. Students will search for clues from each historic era and draw conclusions about daily lives and cultural perspectives, and contemplate issues facing individuals within each of these time periods.
Alcatraz Uncovered uses the Understanding by Design framework, incorporates Common Core Standards and Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies.
Please click here for the Alcatraz Uncovered Understanding by Design grid.
Program Description
Alcatraz Uncovered is framed by the Essential Question – "How can archeology deepen my understanding of a place?"
Alcatraz Uncovered is structured in three parts: *
- Classroom preparation – lessons delivered by the teacher and NPS staff with resources provided by the park addressing observation and inference using artifacts and historic photographs
- Field session – the island experience in which students conduct an archeological investigation
- Classroom assessment – opportunities for students to demonstrate what they have learned through essays and inquiry investigations
Please click here for program description and curriculum in English and Spanish
Please click here for Photographs related to Lesson 2
Please click here for Student Field Journal
Want your students to dig deeper into inquiry and archeology? Check-out Questioning Artifacts, an Electronic Excursion of Alcatraz that helps your class discover how artifacts, found and missing, influence our interpretation of history, cultures, and even ourselves.
Please click here for in-depth information about Alcatraz Island.
The application for this program will go live at the start of the 2021-2022 school year. Please check back in a few weeks.
* Virtual program structures vary.
