ROCK DETECTIVE'S INTRODUCTION TO WHALE EAR BONE FOSSILS FOR GRADES K-12

Rock Detective is a hands on, interactive, and investigative program that supplements the basic science-classroom curriculum. It is used nationally and internationally to introduce many of the fundamental concepts of Earth science to K-12 students, and the program includes the critical components of the National Science Education Standards. Rock Detective is a series of mysteries that poses questions about given hand specimens and is based on the pedagogy that students who are curious about what they are learning will remember what they discovered. The mysteries are carefully structured to capture student interest, with the goal that even difficult concepts become easy to understand and fun to learn. The program hinges on a question-based “staff meeting” following sample observations, where students determine the flow of discussion and topics of focus for the lesson. To date, over 200 grade-specific mysteries have been developed, and others are continually being constructed.

Presently, mysteries centered on fossilized whale-ear bones are under development. The finished products are designed appropriately for grades K-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Concepts of ear structure and evolution are used to help students understand the scientific importance of these fossils. Each mystery focuses on various concepts associated with the hand specimen, such as living cetacean biology and behavior, the differences between land mammal ears and those of marine mammals, and the evolution of ancient terrestrial mammals into modern whales. Ultimately, each mystery is also an introduction to overarching geologic concepts such as the scope of geologic time, ongoing scientific debate, and the mechanisms that drive evolutionary change.

Each student group that investigates the whale-ear bone will experience something different because of individual personal interests and approaches taken towards understanding the mystery. After learning about whale-ear bones, students will have a strong grasp on how cetaceans hear, why the ear structure is a clue as to their evolutionary ancestry, and how species change and evolve as environments change over time. In addition to qualitative observations, students will be assessed quantitatively through an administered pre-test and post test, with results used to determine the efficacy of each module.