On November 15, 2004, Vicki Lais and Nancy Kenfield, members of the Birmingham Paleontological Society Community Education Committee, were the guests of Mrs. Woods' "gifted student" class at Meadowview Elementary School in Selma, Alabama. These are all third-graders and BPS had been invited to speak when one of the students told her teacher about seeing Nancy's collection. Vicki supplied the knowledge and experience and a LOT of samples to show and give away, Nancy supplied more samples, her own stories and a whole bunch of stuff "scored" from Ward Science, fossil books, and maps from the GSA office in Tuscaloosa.
An overview of the geological history of Alabama was given, including type of fossils found and why. We showed and passed around numerous fossil samples, including corals and a large coral head, large pieces of petrified/ permineralized wood, one covered with quartz crystals, nautiloids past and present, ammonite, calamites, echinoids, crabs, shark teeth, ptychodus teeth, exogyra, cast of a very large crinoid, rocks containing numerous bits of archimedes, shells, and crinoid hash, and some mineral specimens, including calcite and quartz with tourmaline crystals. This was the first time some of the students had ever been allowed to hold fossils, and we took some nice, sturdy ones for everyone to examine. Most of these samples were collected on BPS field trips. The general area of collecting locations were marked on a geologic map to show the diversity of Alabama fossils, to provide a simplistic way to determine which fossils are older or younger, and to emphasize the importance of knowing the location of Alabama counties. We also showed pictures of BPS members on various outings (incuding the "rope trick" adventure!), told them stories about exciting things that happened on trips, and Nancy presented a slide show of various common fossils. During the course of the day, we showed them the BPS web site, touched on the ethics of fossil collecting, and the reason why museums only list the county where the fossils are found.
THEN came their own fossil hunt! Nancy had a lab-activity kit from Ward Science that included a bucket full of small fossils and gravel, sorting trays, tweezers, and magnifying glasses. Add a little landscape sand to "stretch" the supplies, then seed the mix with a few goodies from the BPS give-away stash, and you have the recipe for an unforgettable event! The kids had a great time sieving and searching, and their exciting "finds" included echinoderms, horn coral, archimedes and crinoid parts, blastoids and a few fern fossils which were "donated" by the finders to the classroom! To end the day there were "door prize" drawings where each student could choose a fossil of their own.
Several teachers stopped by to look at the fossil display, and the principal stopped by to take pictures. Everyone was super excited about the visit. Who would have thought that kids would want to help lug your fossils around! Mrs. Woods was great...no amount of mess fazed her and everyone had a great time!
--Edited by Vicki Lais
(Photos courtesy Nancy Kenfield and Vicki Lais)
Students and teacher checking out the fossil display as we are setting up.
A lot of assistance was provided in laying out the specimens. What they didn't know, was that this box contained the fossils that would be given away at the end of the day! Later in the day, the calcite crystal being intently examined had a large amount of pressure applied to it (i.e, we hit it with a rock hammer) to show how this mineral splits into smaller crystals of the same shape.
Vicki explaining the color banding on the Alabama geologic map.
"Sticky's" were added to the map as a particular fossil specimen was discussed.
Examining nautaloids and echinoids.
Nancy assisting with screening and sorting the different fossil specimens.
Examining the fossils. An ammonite was inside this split nodule.