Tag archives for Archaeology

Comments:9

Migaloo is the World’s First “Archaeology Dog”

You may know that some dogs like to bury bones, but did you know that they can also be trained to find bones? Gary Jackson, an Australian dog trainer with Multinational K9 has trained Migaloo, a black lab, to find bones! Now Migaloo helps archaeologist search for bones that are hundreds of years old.

Migaloo locates the bones, but she is not allowed to dig them up–that’s up to the human archaeologists!

Learn more about Migaloo on National Geographic News.

What other jobs can dogs do? Find out on National Geographic Kids.

Comments:4

National Geographic Treasures of the Earth

Have you ever dreamed about being an archaeologist? Visiting the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis gives you a chance to experience real archaeological discoveries as you explore the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Seti I, the terra cotta warriors excavation site in China, and Captain Kidd’s shipwreck off the coast of the Dominican Republic. The National Geographic Treasures of the Earth exhibit was created with the assistance of the National Geographic Society and opens on June 11, 2011. Watch this video to get an amazing behind-the-scenes look at the exhibit!

Comments:55

The Red Pyramid

i-53cf5035fde890ed171a9b0ccbe61de0-redpyramid200x303.jpg

BOOK NAME: The Red Pyramid
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

Hi, it’s Mairen again. Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan, has been the focus of a lot of controversy among fans. When the movie came out, there was outrage within the most avid followers, while the people who hadn’t read the books loved it.

But Riordan has burst out with a new book: The Red Pyramid. While this new novel does focus on myths and gods, the gods are not Greek or Roman, they’re Egyptian. We follow Carter and Sadie Kane as they quest to figure out what exactly is going on and what they need to do to stop the evil god Set. Set was released when their father worked magic with the Rosetta Stone, releasing the 5 major gods. Carter and Sadie grew up apart after their mother died: Carter traveled with their Egyptologist father around the world, and Sadie stayed with their mother’s parents in London. They are very different – Sadie has almost Caucasian skin, and Carter’s skin is much darker; Sadie has a British accent; and Carter is an expert on Egyptology.

As much as I loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, this book didn’t really do the trick for me. Sure, it was good–it just didn’t pack the punch that his first series did: it wasn’t as funny, and the characters didn’t come to life as much. It was confusing at times, and I couldn’t really get into it. While I was reading, I kept telling myself that it would get better, but it really didn’t. All I can hope for is that the next two books will be better. One of the big turn-downs for me was that the story was apparently told while Sadie and Carter were recording themselves retelling the story. This didn’t really work for me. It confused me, and while I could tell it was meant to be funny, it only served as an interruption to the actual plotline of the story.

The Red Pyramid was an okay book overall. If you’re a Rick Riordan fan, you should definitely read it. Please comment and tell me your thoughts!

Want another opinion? Read Reed’s review of The Red Pyramid.

Comments:59

The Red Pyramid

i-53cf5035fde890ed171a9b0ccbe61de0-redpyramid200x303.jpg

BOOK NAME: The Red Pyramid
AUTHOR: Rick Riordan

It started off when my Mom brought me home a book order from school (she’s a teacher there). I decided to get a Gary Paulsen book called Caught by the Sea: My Life on Boats and The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I wanted The Red Pyramid because it looked like it had some cool adventure. Everyday after school, I’d ask my Mom, “Did it come? Did it come?” It took a while for it to finally come because it hadn’t even been published yet! It finally came in the middle of one school day and I started reading it that night.

The story’s narrators switch off between the two main characters, Carter and Sadie. Carter and Sadie’s mom died when they were young so Sadie had to go live with her grandparents on her mom’s side of the family. Carter lived with his dad who’s an archaeologist, but they only went to visit Sadie twice a year. Carter was named after Howard Carter, who discovered King Tut’s tomb (if you want to learn more about King Tut and mummies, read Braden’s review of the book Mummies).

Carter and Sadie’s dad takes them to the British Museum in London, where they see the Rosetta Stone, a famous archaeological discovery. He tells them to stay in an office, but when they leave the office they find their dad doing something that looks like magic. It turns out to be that he’s summoning gods from the Rosetta Stone. One of the gods puts their dad into a coffin which then sinks into the ground.

The rest of the story is about how the kids, along with their uncle Amos, try to find their dad. It’s story is full of twists and turns and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

It’s really for advanced readers who are 8 and 9 and other readers who are 10-12. It’s sort of like The Lightning Thief where there are gods in modern times. You should definitely get this book. It may take you a while to read because it’s 514 pages long, but it’s definitely worth it.

Until next time…SEEYA!