Re: Lab Ideas Wanted

[Stephen Schellenberg <schellen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 13 May 1996, Roy Plotnick wrote:

> My department is finally doing a major revision/updating its 100-level
> geology labs.  This includes three lab exercise on fossils.  I am moderately
> happy with two of them, but the third (which is basically biostratigraphy)
> is, quite frankly, dull. I am looking for suggestions or examples of
> successful paleontology labs.  I would greatly prefer labs that are hands-on
> (not paper-and-pencil exercises).  The intended audience will be greatly
> dominated but non-geology, non-science majors. Thanks -Roy

Dear Roy et al.:

If you must get across the concept and application of biostratigraphy from 
scratch within one lab period (i.e., original horizontality, correlation, 
and onwards), then you may want to peruse the Gastaldo et al. historical lab 
manual recently published by Contemporary Publishing Company [(919) 
821-4566]. They have some good figures and analogies (e.g., correlation 
of "lithostratigraphic" units of magazines found in the basements of the 
geographically dispersed cousins).

Also, check out Follo, M. F. 1992. Using athletic assemblages to 
illustrate biostratigraphical principles. Journal of Geological Education 
40:321-323. Albeit an imperfect analogy, it might be useful for initial 
engagement.

Finally, you can easily simulate the essence of biostratigraphy by creating 
different "local sections" around the lab room that contain FAD- and 
LAD-labelled specimens of specific "taxa" (i.e., fossils, 
legos, beer cans, whatever). Students can then synthesize a "composite 
section" from inter- and intra-relationships of local sections. Then the 
composite section may be "tested" (emphasis here!) by comparing it to 
a new local section: Is it consistent with this new section? If yes, 
what relative age is hypothesized for the local section? If 
no, how can this conflicting information be incorporated into the composite 
section? Etc., etc.

Good luck.

Stephen A. Schellenberg
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0740
(213) 740-5818