Nebraska's
ancient history will be on display on the Web
Children soon
can get a glimpse of what Nebraska was like thousands of years
ago.
Anthropologists
at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently received a
$9,965 grant from the Cooper Foundation to create a Web site
with lessons on the state's ancient history for students in
grades 4 through 8.
LuAnn Wandsnider,
an anthropologist at the university, said the Web site will
tell kids about the American Indians who first came to the
state 10,000 years ago and how they lived.
"We know
that there were people here when mammoths who are now extinct
were present," Wandsnider said.
Children also
can learn about Nebraska's roots - literally.
"We know
that some of the earliest agriculture took place here in Nebraska,"
Wandsnider said. For instance, sunflowers were among some
of the first crops planted by American Indians as early as
200 B.C.
Wandsnider
has been working on the Web site with Eric Kaldahl, the project's
director at UNL, along with the Nebraska State Historical
Society, Nebraska Educational Television and the State Department
of Education.
The Web site
is slated to be up and running in January at www.nebraskahistory.org.
The Cooper
Foundation supports arts and educational activities.
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