Peat Burns Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 I'm preparing a teacher education workshop which includes a fossil hunting and identification activity. The teachers are coming from many states across the country. I'd like to include some suggestions of sites where they could replicate the things they learn and experience during the workshop with their students in the vicinity of their respective schools. I have the Indiana schools covered. For the ones near Dallas, I'm thinking Mineral Wells Fossil Park (and maybe Ladonia for older, more adventuresome students). The ones I need help with are sites within field trip range of the following: Austin, TX ( @Uncle Siphuncle, @KimTexan, @BobWill, @erose)? Atlanta, GA Golden, CO Palm Bay, FL (near Melbourne) Naples, FL (any shell dump piles accessible to and suitable for k-12?) @digit ? Bentonville, AR Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, either posted here or via PM. I have alternative activity suggestions for them (e.g. bags of matrix to sift, etc) if they can't do a field trip, but there's nothing quite like the experience of hunting and discovery in the field... I would have done backflips if my grade school had had a fossil trip... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Tony, Though I don’t live in Georgia, I would suggest the Conasauga Formation in Murray county, but due to it’s location, down a steep hill and along a fast moving river ( at times), coupled with the lack of parking ( max 2 passenger cars if lucky), I would have to an actual visit off of the list for safety and accessibility reasons. With that said, I could supply you with a medium Priority box of matrix that they could work through in groups and also supply some representative fossils. Let me know if interested. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minnbuckeye Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 @Peat Burns, We vacation in the area just north of Naples. Most landscaping around motels and businesses are "mulched " with fossils. Most construction sites have piles of "fill" dirt scattered around. It seems like everywhere you look, fossil shells exist. It would just be a matter of convincing the teacher that these are fossils and not bleached out modern shells. I actually picked a 2.5 inch meg out of one of these piles this winter!! Casperson beach by Venice has a mile long section of undeveloped land inland from the beach that is loaded with fossils. and the beach itself gives up water worn sharks teeth. This is probably close enough for a field trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Whiskey Bridge is a bus trip from Austin, but it would support a group. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 What a wonderful project!! Good for You! Tony PS Sorry I can not help. Darwin said: " Man sprang from monkeys." Will Rogers said: " Some of them didn't spring far enough." My Fossil collection - My Mineral collection My favorite thread on TFF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doushantuo Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 Great iniative Peat. fully concur with Ynot: worthy of some acclaim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 3 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: Whiskey Bridge is a bus trip from Austin, but it would support a group. That's still 2 hours from Austin. In town there is Shoal Creek at Pease Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 11 hours ago, Peat Burns said: I'm preparing a teacher education workshop which includes a fossil hunting and identification activity. The teachers are coming from many states across the country. I'd like to include some suggestions of sites where they could replicate the things they learn and experience during the workshop with their students in the vicinity of their respective schools. I have the Indiana schools covered. For the ones near Dallas, I'm thinking Mineral Wells Fossil Park (and maybe Ladonia for older, more adventuresome students). The ones I need help with are sites within field trip range of the following: Austin, TX ( @Uncle Siphuncle, @KimTexan, @BobWill, @erose)? Atlanta, GA Golden, CO Palm Bay, FL (near Melbourne) Naples, FL (any shell dump piles accessible to and suitable for k-12?) @digit ? Bentonville, AR Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, either posted here or via PM. I have alternative activity suggestions for them (e.g. bags of matrix to sift, etc) if they can't do a field trip, but there's nothing quite like the experience of hunting and discovery in the field... I would have done backflips if my grade school had had a fossil trip... Oh that sounds like a lot of fun! I live in Dallas and while I may know a few sites farther south I’ll defer to the other gentlemen for sites near Austin. Near Dallas I can name a few sites. I can recommend a number of sites for Bentonville, AR area. I have hunted there, but never posted my trips for there. May I PM the info to you? I prefer to not publicly broadcast the sites, but I do know some good ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 7, 2018 Share Posted June 7, 2018 6 hours ago, erose said: That's still 2 hours from Austin. In town there is Shoal Creek at Pease Park. True. Hopefully at least oysters there for everyone at a minimum. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 18 hours ago, Nimravis said: Tony, Though I don’t live in Georgia, I would suggest the Conasauga Formation in Murray county, but due to it’s location, down a steep hill and along a fast moving river ( at times), coupled with the lack of parking ( max 2 passenger cars if lucky), I would have to an actual visit off of the list for safety and accessibility reasons. With that said, I could supply you with a medium Priority box of matrix that they could work through in groups and also supply some representative fossils. Let me know if interested. Thanks Ralph, as usual, that is very kind. Thank you for offering. However, if I suggest the matrix route for those teachers that can't or won't conduct field trips, I would like to be able to find sources of material that they could access or buy every year for their classes, particularly matrix that is diverse in its fossils and easy / safe for children to explore. I was thinking along the lines of some of the Permian unconsolidated gravels from Oklahoma with the fish and amphibian teeth or the various gravel bags from Post Oak and Aurora Creeks (with the shark and ray teeth, echinoid spines, etc.) that can be purchased online (so that they could have a reliable source of familiar material every year). Alternatively, I know a lot of k-12 teachers have fossil "digs" where they plant fossils in a sandbox for the kids to search, but when I was a kid, that would have been woefully insufficient in satisfying my sense of discovery. At least with the bags of unsorted matrix, they are actually "discovering" fossils that no one has already found and picked out. Thanks again for you generous offer. I still owe you some "Solenopora". Now that I am back from Florida, I hope to send that along soon -- I haven't forgotten! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 14 hours ago, minnbuckeye said: @Peat Burns, We vacation in the area just north of Naples. Most landscaping around motels and businesses are "mulched " with fossils. Most construction sites have piles of "fill" dirt scattered around. It seems like everywhere you look, fossil shells exist. It would just be a matter of convincing the teacher that these are fossils and not bleached out modern shells. I actually picked a 2.5 inch meg out of one of these piles this winter!! Casperson beach by Venice has a mile long section of undeveloped land inland from the beach that is loaded with fossils. and the beach itself gives up water worn sharks teeth. This is probably close enough for a field trip. Thank you, Mike. If I can't find a permanent location to share with them, I can certainly remind them of your suggestions above. I used to vacation in Avon Park, FL, and I remember while on the golf course I used to spend as much time plucking fossils out of the golf cart paths than I did searching for my golf balls that invariably ended up in the rough... Nice score on the meg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 13 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: Whiskey Bridge is a bus trip from Austin, but it would support a group. 12 hours ago, ynot said: What a wonderful project!! Good for You! Tony PS Sorry I can not help. 12 hours ago, doushantuo said: Great iniative Peat. fully concur with Ynot: worthy of some acclaim 10 hours ago, erose said: That's still 2 hours from Austin. In town there is Shoal Creek at Pease Park. Thank you, gentlemen. Very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 8 hours ago, KimTexan said: Oh that sounds like a lot of fun! I live in Dallas and while I may know a few sites farther south I’ll defer to the other gentlemen for sites near Austin. Near Dallas I can name a few sites. I can recommend a number of sites for Bentonville, AR area. I have hunted there, but never posted my trips for there. May I PM the info to you? I prefer to not publicly broadcast the sites, but I do know some good ones. Thank you, Kim. I completely understand. I got your fist PM. Thank you. I will make sure to tell the teachers not to "broadcast" the suggested sites. I will remind them that that practice is for their own benefit as well as others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 19 hours ago, Uncle Siphuncle said: True. Hopefully at least oysters there for everyone at a minimum. Yes, that was then most common fossil found. Both Texigryphaea and Ilymatogyra are common. But on one occasion a young boy maybe 8-9 years old found four different ammonites. I was blown away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 Peat, Is a 2 1/2 hr commute to the fossil site too much? And would these be sites the teachers would visit, or do you envision them taking students there? Atlanta is on granite bedrock, and there are no fossiliferous sites close by. However there is a Cretaceous site with a very diverse fauna about 2 1/2 hrs away. Accessing the site involves a climb down a steep bank, followed by crossing a fast flowing stream directly above a waterfall. Usually the water is only a few inches deep, but the stream bed is very irregular. Adults in reasonable shape should be fine (assuming no thunderstorms in the area on the day of their visit) but it's not a place to take a class of kids. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 17 hours ago, Peat Burns said: I got your fist PM. Ouch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erose Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 52 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said: Peat, Is a 2 1/2 hr commute to the fossil site too much? And would these be sites the teachers would visit, or do you envision them taking students there? Atlanta is on granite bedrock, and there are no fossiliferous sites close by. However there is a Cretaceous site with a very diverse fauna about 2 1/2 hrs away. Accessing the site involves a climb down a steep bank, followed by crossing a fast flowing stream directly above a waterfall. Usually the water is only a few inches deep, but the stream bed is very irregular. Adults in reasonable shape should be fine (assuming no thunderstorms in the area on the day of their visit) but it's not a place to take a class of kids. Don I visited a site in Georgia many moons ago like that. There was also Poison Ivy, Cottonmouths, gators and quicksand. Our guide was Prof. David Schwimmer and he personally demonstrated the quicksand. But I flew back to NY with shark and fish teeth, mollusk steinkerns, and turtle bones. Perfect for school children... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I know the site you are talking about. I'm currently in the process of arranging permission for myself and some colleagues to do some research there. The site is owned by Georgia Power, and they want me to post a $2 million dollar insurance policy before they will allow me access. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said: Peat, Is a 2 1/2 hr commute to the fossil site too much? And would these be sites the teachers would visit, or do you envision them taking students there? Atlanta is on granite bedrock, and there are no fossiliferous sites close by. However there is a Cretaceous site with a very diverse fauna about 2 1/2 hrs away. Accessing the site involves a climb down a steep bank, followed by crossing a fast flowing stream directly above a waterfall. Usually the water is only a few inches deep, but the stream bed is very irregular. Adults in reasonable shape should be fine (assuming no thunderstorms in the area on the day of their visit) but it's not a place to take a class of kids. Don Thanks, Don. I am hoping to suggest sites to which they could safely take students. I guess it depends on the motivations of the teacher(s) as to how much logistical effort they wish to devote to a field experience. My junior high school in northern Indiana used to offer an annual geology/palaeontology field trip out west (Colorodo, IIRC) during the summer. Unfortunately, they closed the school and sent the 9th-graders to the high school before I could participate. I've always been a strong proponent of field trips, subscribing to the old phrase "I hear, I forget - I see, I remember - but if I do, I understand". Unfortunately field trips are declining for a number of reasons, especially liability, cost, and logistics. It looks like for the Atlanta teachers a day or half-day trip will be out of the question, and if they want a field experience for the students, they'll have to organize a weekend trip. Otherwise, exploring unsorted matrix in lab or some other in-house activity will have to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peat Burns Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 1 hour ago, FossilDAWG said: Ouch! Aaaack! I try to proofread before sending. I missed that one. For some reason when I type on TFF on my phone (not my computer), there is an annoying delay between each character which makes typing on here an annoying task. It must be something on my end, as I haven't seen anyone else mention this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilDAWG Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 I though it was funny. Sometimes it would be useful to send someone a fist to the nose via PM. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piranha Posted June 8, 2018 Share Posted June 8, 2018 2 hours ago, FossilDAWG said: I though it was funny. Sometimes it would be useful to send someone a fist to the nose via PM. Don I have done that a time or two... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimravis Posted June 10, 2018 Share Posted June 10, 2018 @David Schwimmer FYI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullsnake Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 On 6/8/2018 at 3:58 PM, Peat Burns said: Aaaack! I try to proofread before sending. I missed that one. For some reason when I type on TFF on my phone (not my computer), there is an annoying delay between each character which makes typing on here an annoying task. It must be something on my end, as I haven't seen anyone else mention this problem. Same here. I thought it was just me, as well! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimTexan Posted June 11, 2018 Share Posted June 11, 2018 I don’t know how all the schools work, but once my kids hit middle school there were next to no field trips ever. There was no recess either! They did some field trips in grades 1-5. Unless they were in a special group they didn’t get any trips in grades 6-8. So educational field trips were up to me in the summers and on weekends. I drug my kids all kinds of places. The Grand Canyon and traveling to see the total solar eclipse were stupendous successes last summer. The eclipse happened on the day of my daughter’s 13th birthday. My son was in honors biology in high school this year. He got in the 100th percentile for his 4 hour end of course exam for the state of Texas. He missed 1 question. Sadly he has no interest in biology. My daughter was in honors science in 8th grade. She got 100% on her final exam. She has no interest in science sad to say. I think mom’s (my) science discourses in the field and field trips must have done them some good though. So I totally agree that to be able to see and do is a much better teacher than just reading or hearing about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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