Begin the activity by asking students to define an object and an artifact. As needed connect to or provide students with the following definitions:

• Object: An object is a tangible item that can be seen, touched, or held. It can be natural, like a tree, or human-made, like a book. Objects can serve various purposes, such as tools, decorations, or symbols with cultural significance.
• Artifact: An artifact is an object that has historical, cultural, or archaeological significance. It can be made by humans (such as art work), or collected (such as stones for a particular building feature), or left behind (such as firewood or charcoal). Artifacts are always studied in context. They are often remnants of past human activity and provide clues about past civilizations, societies, and cultures. They can include tools, pottery, chards, artwork, structures, or any other objects created by humans in the past. Studying artifacts helps historians and archaeologists understand how people lived, worked, and interacted in different time periods and places.

Show students selected objects or artifacts from your classroom or resources. If items are not available, consider displaying images. Ask students to discuss if they think it is an object or artifact, its use(s) and how it has or will change over time, and how it represents the people who use it. Suggested items/responses could include:

• Older model cellphone and/or landline phone-object/artifact used for communication. It has gotten smaller and more compact over time. It shows a desire for human communication and connection (pictures, social media apps, contacts, etc.)
• Globe-object/artifact used for understanding the geography and distance of all regions of the world. It has changed over time as civilization has evolved and different powers/groups have been in charge (wars, revolutions, climate change, etc.). It shows movement from human understanding of the world as flat , it shows relation to key features of Earth (equator, oceans). It shows how people who able to connect and grow over time.
• Jewels or Jewelry with natural stone or shells (cowrie, natural stone or crystals)-object (jewel/shell) or object/artifact (jewelry). Jewelry and jewels have been used for decoration and to symbolize wealth/access. The styles had remained relatively the same over time (rings, bracelets, pendants, etc.)

Then challenge students to identify their own object/artifact and share its story. Ask students to identify an object/artifact of their choosing from in the classroom, their backpacks or at home. Ask them to imagine that someone from the future might study it in order to make claims about our culture in our specific place and historical time. Ask them to make a short list of how a future investigator would make claims about their cultural practices based on their artifacts- what would be potential stories told about an artifact? What could they get wrong by just looking at an artifact? What could they get right? How could they arrive at a firm conclusion about the people who interacted with it?

After students are done with their list and discussing how their objects would represent culture and how they could be potentially misinterpreted/misunderstood by outsiders, have them share out with partners or in small groups. 

At the conclusion of the activity, explain to students that in this unit, they will have an opportunity to analyze various objects as cultural artifacts. They will identify the provenance, the location found, the materials, where they were sourced, and how they were used as a way to gain insight into West African economic activity, and specifically, trade.