Elementary students learn about ancient Egyptian process
3:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Students learned ancient mummification in a social studies course at the Topeka Collegiate School Tuesday afternoon.
Social studies teacher Jeremy Philipp figured touching and doing would be better than reading. He tells the kids to name their chicken.
"I think it will be an interesting experience to learn how to do this, and experience on a chicken instead of a human," 5th grader Marisol King said.
After unwrapping the bird, Philipp showed the kids how dig in.
"It's cool, everything is still in it," Ryland Evans, 5th grader, said.
Some of the students were fascinated with the chicken. The coolest part was scooping out the yucky insides.
The kids realized the wings moved, and, after they cleaned out the inside, the kids packed it with salt.
"I learned they used salt for drying out the entire body, for bacteria not to grow," 5th grader Max Halley said.
The chicken was still juicy, so the students packed salt all around it.
After they were done, the mummified birds were displayed in the hall. The next step comes after the chickens are dried out.
The students enjoyed the hands-on experience, and even one vegetarian said she would put her feelings aside to learn something new.
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