fossilsonwheels Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 This is our 6th-8th grade fossil program. I was not going to start running these until the fall of this year but thanks to an awesome donation and a few identifications from @Boesse , I am going to do a few with these with displaced students from Paradise really soon. They need creative education and I need a few opportunities to do the lab and make tweaks. I am super excited and extremely nervous about this lab. Marine mammals are so well adapted to an aquatic life that they really present a great opportunity for presenting complex scientific concepts to kids. The difficulty in using fossils is that I lack the expertise to be able to identify a lot of it but at the same time, I have a number of fossils that are perfect for kids to handle. I do have a basic idea of what fossils I have now so I can start working out a presentation. The first part of the presentation is going to be a quick run down on the basics of classification, using mammals, and the basics of marine mammal biology. We are only discussing two orders of marine mammal, cetacea and carnivora because we only have fossils from those orders. I do have a Desmostylus tusk but I am not going to use that yet. I need a considerable amount more knowledge about that species and its relationship to sirens before I present. We do not have any Odobenidae fossils and I am not sure we ever will. I plan on running down the basic characteristics that separate the two orders. Once we have covered the basics of the two orders, we will discuss the whales in bit more more depth. At each point in the presentation we will present them with fossils that represent the two orders. This is only going to be about 20 minutes. The rest of the time, they will be examining fossils ! Then comes the lab. We will have stations set up that feature some fossils from each order and a visual guide in helping them identify the fossils. Essentially we want them to enjoy checking out the miocene fossils and learning through a hands-on approach. We want them exploring and coming to their own conclusions using the tools they have. The final station will be the students getting a chance to test their abilities by determining if a Cetacean ear bone belongs to an odontoceti or mysticeti type whale. This is the basic outline and I have quite a bit of work to do on this but I really like the potential. I would like to get a few more STH mammal teeth so we have more for the kids to examine and a few more cetacean ear bones as they are diagnostic which is a good thing to have in an education program but overall I feel good about the fossils we have. We have some with identifications but also a few things that are not known which is a good mix. Some of the fossils... Pic 1- a number of different vertebra. There is a shark vert, several cetacean verts and at least one that looks like it might be from carnivora. I have a few more that are not in the picture too. Pic 2- 4 STH Allodesmus teeth, 4 small STH Odontoceti indet teeth ( I will probably suggest Kentriodon to the kids), a STH Aulophyseter tooth, a much different STH Odontoceti indet tooth, and just for fun, a pretty wicked looking sperm whale tooth from North Carolina. This gives the students a chance to visualize the difference between carnivora and cetacea. Pic 3- A few ear bones that will be the final part of the lab. The two STH fossils are the key. One is a mysticeti and the other is an odontoceti. The big one from North Carolina is more for visual flair. It is a big ear bone, the kids will dig it I think. not pictured, the box of bones the kids will handle, the majority of which came via donation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I am really enjoying your posts. I think it is great, what you are doing. Keep up the good work. I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted February 18, 2019 Author Share Posted February 18, 2019 16 hours ago, Darktooth said: I am really enjoying your posts. I think it is great, what you are doing. Keep up the good work. Thank you very much. I sometimes wonder if I get a little wordy in these posts lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Just now, fossilsonwheels said: Thank you very much. I sometimes wonder if I get a little wordy in these posts lol I don't think so. The more details that you put in, the clearer picture we get as to what you do in your programs, and what they are about. I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 Another nice dissertation, but Your "shark vert" looks more like a bony fish to Me. (Better close up will tell.) 1 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...
fossilsonwheels Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 20 hours ago, Darktooth said: I don't think so. The more details that you put in, the clearer picture we get as to what you do in your programs, and what they are about. Thank you. Writing this good practice for the presentation. I am sure my kids are sick of me walking around the house talking to myself about science and fossils lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fossilsonwheels Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 18 hours ago, ynot said: Another nice dissertation, but Your "shark vert" looks more like a bony fish to Me. (Better close up will tell.) I will get better pictures up soon. There are a couple of verts that I am not 100% sure on. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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