Spenard, you see, is an archaeology professor at Cal State San Marcos, and it was in about late August that archaeologists from around the world suddenly found themselves being bombarded with attention. As Spenard can attest, that’s not the normal reality for a scholar in his field.

The reason for the surprising interest in archaeology? In August, the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Lego League Challenge – an international competition for elementary and middle school students that attracts almost 700,000 kids – released its annual theme: “Unearthed.”

As the website states: “Every artifact we uncover holds a story. Each tool, each innovation, each work of art connects us to the people and ideas that came before us. Using STEM skills and teamwork, today we can dig deeper into discoveries than ever before.”

Almost overnight, Spenard was on speed dial.

“No one was expecting this,” Spenard said. “Every archaeologist and museum I know was suddenly flooded with calls and messages requesting meetings.”

So it was that on the afternoon of Nov. 24, Spenard met with a FIRST Lego League team named Bikini Bottom Brick Builders – three middle school girls from Temecula and their parents – in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Building. The team was trying to build a LiDAR scanner – an acronym for “Light Detection and Ranging,” LiDAR is a remote sensing method for creating 3D models of the real world – and Spenard talked to them about how the technology works, how it relates to archaeology and how they could use their newfound knowledge to make better scans.

That consulting session was the latest of about a dozen that Spenard has conducted this semester – some on campus, some by email, some at a public archaeology event that he attended in October (Arch in the Park in San Diego).

“The groups and their parents do deep research,” he said. “I think many found me through our departmental website.”

Each year, the FIRST Lego League introduces schoolkids to a scientific and real-world challenge that will be the focus of their research. The competition involves designing and programming robot prototypes with Legos to complete tasks, and working out a solution to a problem related to the theme. The students meet for regional, national and international tournaments to compete, compare ideas and display their robots.

Spenard’s assistance to teams in the region has run the gamut, from conveying the general nature of archaeology – hint: as he says, “it’s not dinosaurs!” – to listening to presentations to providing feedback on early design prototypes.

Though wholly out of the blue, the experience has been a rewarding one for him.

“My hope, more than anything, is that these kids have walked away with a much better understanding of what archaeology is and how it is done,” Spenard said. “My impression is that, collectively, these kids are doing amazing engineering work that will revolutionize the field of archaeology and many others someday.”

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