A NEW LOOK AT CONODONTS; A HIGH -TECH, LOW- BUDGET APPROACH FOR THE CLASSROOM

The Science Museum of Minnesota's Youth Science Center Field School was recently awarded a 3 year grant from Lucent Technologies to fund inquiry-based learning of geology and paleontology for high school students in the Twin Cities area. As part of their curriculum these students study and identify conodonts from local Ordovician deposits (Decorah Shale) and Devonian deposits (Lime Creek Shale) from Rockford, Iowa. While the process of screening and sorting under a conventional microscope can be tedious at best, a new approach has been developed using an inexpensive yet high tech Intel QX-3 microscope and laptop computer which yields excellent results.

Using this CCD microscope has made the sorting and identification of conodont elements faster and easier than traditional means. The students can capture images and store them for later research or classification without transferring the specimens to a larger CCD unit, which most schools have no access to at all. Small or broken elements that may be overlooked can now be identified and collected with this system. Students now have an easy and "modern" system that aids in understanding and classifying conodonts as well as adding to the museum's collections.

While there is much work yet to be done on the conodont fauna of Rockford, Iowa and other local areas, by utilizing the QX-3 and training students in its use we have been able to sort larger volumes of matrix and maintain the students' interest in conodont research.