Matthew's school sponsored a Terra Cotta Warrior Dig. The fourth graders are learning about the different Chinese Dynasties. I am ashamed to say that Matthew knows more about the Chinese dynasties than I do. He explained to me that Shihuangdi, the first emperor from China was buried with over 7,000 soliders to guard him on his way to Heaven. The warriors are life size and each has a different expression. No two look alike. The warriors are actual clay versions of the real person. Many of the warriors carry real weapons and the tomb was booby trapped to deter robbers. If you made your way into the tomb, there was no way you would make it out. The tomb was found in Xi'an, China in 1974 and is a major tourist attraction. 
The kids from the first and second grades painted the terra cotta warriors and kids from the third grade got to break the warriors. It was then buried in dirt and the fourth graders had to be the archaelogists and dig for it. It was very exciting for the kids. Everyone got dirty. I got to supervise a group of kids and subsequently got burned with the hot glue gun. I wasn't the only casualty, I took about three kids with me. It was nice to watch the kids as they would run to the table. They would brush off the dirt off their piece and try to piece it together. At one point, two girls were brushing Matthew off as if he were a "find." So, I'll need to read up on all the different Chinese dynasties. It's not a good thing when your kid knows more than you.
