Two things:
1. Have you checked out the PS book "Learning from the Fossil
Record?" It is available online at the PS website.
2. I work with 5th graders in Oak Park Illinois as part of a
district program called Global Village, which involves volunteer
scientists "adopting" a class for the year. I make
multiple classroom visits, as well as two field trips, on to the Field
Museum. As part of the classroom activities, we purchased
basic fossil kits from Wards. I then prepared handouts, based on
material from the UCMP website, to guide the kid's study of the
fossils. We also have 1 1/2 hr. program for younger grades,
called the "Young Scientist Conference." My portion
focuses on Mazon Creek. I have them do a "fossil scavenger
hunt," , make rubbings, and prepare a collage/reconstruction.
Hope this helps -Roy
Roy E. Plotnick
Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Chicago
845 W. Taylor St.
Chicago, IL 60607
plotnick@uic.edu
office phone: 312-996-2111 fax:
312-413-2279
lab phone: 312-355-1342
web page:
http://www.uic.edu/~plotnick/plotnick.htm
"The scientific celebrities, forgetting their molluscs and
glacial periods, gossiped about art, while devoting themselves to
oysters and ices with characteristic energy.." -Little Women,
Louisa May Alcott