A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GEOBIOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AT THE SEVEN NEW US PUBLIC FOSSIL PARKS

The answer to the question: "Where is the best place to find a fossil?" is no longer: "In a museum!" In June, 2003, CNN reported on three new US public, non-profit, fossil parks (in Sylvania, OH; Hamburg, NY; and Rockford, IA) with special geoscience education missions. These parks allow the public to collect and actually keep the fossils they find. At present, there are seven such parks (with new ones in Aurora, NC; Sharonville, OH; Fossil, OR; and Republic,WA). Three of the seven are also intended as engines of economic development, and as geotourism destinations for their small, rural communities.

Designed especially for experiential family- and school-based geobiological learning visits, these fossil parks move beyond just exhibiting fossils to allowing visitors to have a direct, tangible, and authentic (or quasi-authentic) geobiological field experience--with digging typically culminating in the visitor's identification and ownership of a small number of personally collected plant or animal fossils. While three of the parks are Devonian in age, site characteristics, presentation, and public access to the fossils varies in each park.

Our 4-year, site-based, qualitative geoscience education investigation focused on determining the strengths and weaknesses, and the opportunities to learn geobiology, of the current seven parks. We traveled to each of these innovative outdoor science centers and availed ourselves of the full visitor experience, reading signage, collecting fossils, and observing other visitors as well.

Our systematic evaluation of each fossil park has resulted in an ongoing synthesis of the most effective educational elements we have observed into an optimized model of public fossil park design. We also identified key differences among the seven US fossil parks, including: authenticity of experience; publicity and ease of access; wayfinding efficiency; fossil collection methods; site organization and rules; facilities; personnel and geological mentors; and assistance with site interpretation and identification of fossils found.

The 2001 NSF National Conference on the Revolution in Earth and Space Science Education recommended that we need "new opportunities for students and parents to learn about earth and space science in informal settings." We have found that public fossil parks can help us meet that recommendation.