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Teaching Paleontology In National Parks, Monuments, And Public Lands Fossil Butte National Monument |
The concepts of time, past life, and fossils are often difficult for children to comprehend. Fossil Butte National Monument has developed a fossil education curriculum guide designed to aid teachers presenting these principles to students in the second and third grades.
Organization
The curriculum includes four units organized into grade specific lesson plans. They are: fossilization and human influences for second grade, and adaptation, community, and human influences for third grade. All units have fossil themes and complement science curriculums from Wyoming, Idaho, and Utah.
Unit Content
Each unit begins with an introduction followed by a vocabulary list, background information for the teacher, pre-questions, pre-site activities, field trip ideas, post-questions, post-site activities, a list of National Parks and Monuments that illustrate concepts of the unit, and a reference list for teachers and students.
Activities
All activities are highly interactive or "hands-on." Although designed around a field trip, activities are easily adaptable for groups unable to visit a fossil site.
Pre-site activities prepare the student for a field trip. The variety of exercises include vocabulary lists, games, art projects, slide programs, and an interactive computer program on population dynamics.
Post-site activities provide the connection that enables the learner to apply what they have experienced at the field trip site to their own lives. By design, the exercises stimulate further interest and a greater appreciation for fossils.
Traveling Kits
The curriculum guide comes with a traveling kit that includes casts of fossils from different geologic times, plaster and modeling clay, magnifying lenses, a poster of geologic time, map of National Parks and Monuments, park brochures from each of the fossil parks, an interactive computer program on population dynamics, two slide programs that introduce fossils, environments, and adaptations.
Kits are available for loan to any school or group teaching about fossils. The kits are housed in Rubbermaid containers, 19" x 12" x 12", and weigh approximately 16 pounds.
Kit Check Out
To check out a fossil education kit, contact:
Fossil Butte National Monument
P. O. Box 592
Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101
307-877-4455
Marcia_Fagnant@nps.gov
Because the kits are very popular, it is important to contact us two to four weeks in advance. Kits may be kept for a maximum of four weeks. Users are responsible for return shipping (averaging $6.00- $8.00 via UPS or USPS).
Additional Information
For information about the 4- 6th grade paleontology curriculum, contact:
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument
P. O. Box 185
Florissant, CO 80816-0185
719-748-3253
For information about the 7-12th grade paleontology curriculum, contact:
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
P. O. Box 570
Hagerman, ID 83332
208-837-4793