Re: paleonet Suggestions for intro paleo lab

From
Date
Reply-To
Jennifer,
My name is Marc, and I am in a similar position as you. I find it helpful to 
put a paleoecological twist to the topic. Most students get really bored 
with the simple taxonomy which is often the key aspect of most lower level 
paleo classes. on the other hand, paleoecological implications of fossils 
often fascinate young minds, and give them a much more applicable look at 
the fossil record. what do these ancient organisms tell us about ancient 
environments? what can be said about how our geography, temperature, 
climate, etc has changed since?

Another interesting aspect is paleo behaviour, which can be displayed with 
trace fossils, dinosaur trackways, death assemblages, dinosaur nests... 
trying to figure out how animals lived their every day life with only 
fossils as your guide is always a hoot.

a third topic of interest is controversies. what major debates have changed 
the way we view ancient groups? this may included the feathered dinosaur 
topic, or warm-blooded dinosaurs, or even the origin of the first animals.

What is important is that they see fossils as living, breathing, organisms, 
and not as boring rocks.

Cheers,
Marc

Marc Laflamme,
Queen's University
Kingston, Ont. Canada






>From: Jennifer Stempien <jstempie@vt.edu>
>Reply-To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
>To: PaleoNet@nhm.ac.uk
>Subject: paleonet Suggestions for intro paleo lab
>Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 17:38:51 -0400
>
>
>	I have been selected to teach an introductory paleo lab aimed at the
>sophomore level in the near future. The basics of the lab, fossils and
>labels, have been set up already but previous students have complained that
>the presentation is dry. Since this is the first exposure most of these
>students have to paleontology I would like to get them excited about
>fossils instead of bored by them.
>
>If you have any teaching ideas or suggestions, fond memories of your first
>paleo intro lab, or moments that hooked you I would like to hear them.
>
>Thank you
>
>Jennifer Stempien
>Department of Geological Sciences
>Virginia Tech
>jstempie@vt.edu


_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus