Kolmanskop, Namibia was settled during the diamond rush in 1908. In a few years, a bustling town with a casino, school, hospital and a theater, sprang up. In the 1950s, the diamond fever in the area slowed down and, abandoned, Kolmanskop became a ghost town. The desert dunes swept back into the buildings, including the school.
Photographs from the town show sand holding open doors in old houses, and dunes covering what were once gardens. Old bathtubs and wagon wheels rest on the sand. The town seems to show in real time how something becomes a relic, treasured by archaeologists.
Where it is: Kolmanskop is open to tourists. It is located in southern Namibia.
Bring it to the classroom: Use pictures of Kolmanskop while talking about archaeology. Discuss the magic of uncovering something from the past. Since your archaeologists can’t set off across the ocean quite yet, make a time capsule from your classroom. Or have your students write a letter to themselves, address it, and then seal it up. You (or their parents) will mail it to them in one, five, or even ten years.
Your own learning life: Kolmanskop shows what happens when humans abandon an area. Alan Weisman’s book The World Without Us asks what happens when humans abandon a planet. In the book, Weisman describes how nature would take over our houses, bridges, even cities if humans were to suddenly disappear. In this timely book about how humans affect our environment, Weisman asks, “Is it possible that, instead of heaving a huge biological sigh of relief, the world without us would miss us?”
These “dream fieldtrips” are really inspiring to read. They remind me of the vastness of information, content, ideas, and places to which we can expose our students. While we can’t always spend the time we’d like out of the classroom, we can use technology and imagination to broaden our students’ perspectives daily.