Field Paleontology Institute: Discovery DayDetails
June 22, 2012, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Fee: $10 6 hours Instructor: Alan Goldstein, Interpretive Naturalist Limit: 20 educators $10 registration fee payable in advance Checks should be made out to the Falls of the Ohio Foundation and sent to 201 West Riverside Dr., Clarksville, IN 47129, insert a note that it is for the FPI three day workshop. - OR - Call Alan at 812-280-9970, ext. 403 to pay by credit card, Monday – Friday 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM. Everything you need to know (and feel free to ask questions) When you arrive... Get a pay-to-park envelope, tear of the part for your dashboard and bring the envelope in to the receptionist. (No fee is necessary.) Please check in at the reception desk in the lobby. We will meet there. Use the restroom before we leave - there are none at the collecting site! What to wear... Please dress for collecting outside since we will be outdoors in the morning. Watch the weather forecast the day before. Long pants are recommended to reduce the risk of scrapes if you slip on rocks. A short sleeve shirt is fine. Light colors are suggested as they reflect sunlight, will keep you cooler and reveal any ticks. Wear shoes that provide support and completely enclose your feet - no sandals please! Hiking boots or tennis shoes are fine, not open-toed sandals. A hat is also helpful. Weather... If it rains, we will still go – bring a poncho. The best fossils can be seen when the rocks are wet. If you have a water bottle with a mister – the type for spraying plants – bring it. We’ll show how it makes it easier to find rarer fossil crinoids and blastoids. We will car pool... We will carpool, if you can seat some additional people and don't mind driving, let me know when you get here. The drive is almost an hour from the park to our collecting site and we will provide directions prior to departure.
Lunch... We will eat in Corydon on the way back to the park – preferably at the same restaurant so I can discuss the afternoon program. You are welcome to brown bag it. Restrooms... At our collecting stop, the nearest rest room facilities are at the Carefree / Leavenworth exit, 6 miles east, though you have to go west to exit 78 and turn around. Keeping hydrated in the field... You should bring a cooler or bottle for water or any non-alcoholic liquid refreshment to quench your thirst. While we do not permit food or drink in most of our building, they are okay in the library / class room for this program. We sell soft drinks and bottled water in our gift shop, or feel free to bring your cooler. Encouraged to bring... Rock hammer / masonry hammer / small hand sledge (Do not bring a claw hammer!) If you do not have a hammer, bring a large flat-head screwdriver for prying Collecting sack, knap sack or small boxes along with old newspaper & permanent marker will be needed. If you want to get bulk samples for an in-school fossil dig, bring a 5 gallon bucket and a small shovel to dig up the shale. Bug spray Hand lens, hat and garden gloves are optional. You are welcome to bring any guides to fossils or geology from your own library to discuss ways to incorporate information into your curriculum.
Instructional Objectives Educators will learn... 1.) use common field collecting techniques and tools in order to acquire fossils for the classroom. 2.) the regional geology and its paleontological implications. 3.) methods of paleontological interpretation. 4.) how to identify fossils and rock types. 5.) of sources of free or low cost information and technical support.
All objectives will be directed with student applications in mind.
Itinerary Please arrive between 8:45 and 9:00 AM, if possible! 9:00 AM (EDT) Assemble, carpool details, hand out information to participants. (I’ll have the doors to the Interpretive Center unlocked a little early for access to rest rooms.) 9:15 Depart from the State Park 10:15 - 30 Arrive at collecting site 10:30 Orientation to the geologic history of the Mississippian Period and the rock layers in the road cut 10:45 - 12:00 PM Collecting 12:30 - 1:30 Lunch in Corydon 1:30 - 2:15 Return to the Falls (Unload our great fossils by side entrance) 2:30 - 4:00 Identification & Interpretation 3:55 Evaluations, conclusion
Facebook Photo Album for Our Field Paleontology Institutes
Examining fossils on the upper beds Collecting Middle Mississippian fossils Finding Ordovician Fossils
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