UNDERGRADUATES PARTICIPATE IN AUTHENTIC RESEARCH PROJECT – WOOLLY MAMMOTH EXCAVATION ON CAMPUS!

Students at a four-year liberal arts college are participating in a paleontological dig on their campus as members of a geology field course that meets an all-college science requirement. Principia College, located on the bluffs of the Mississippi River at Elsah, Illinois, is the site where remains of a woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, have been found in an open area surrounded by dorms. By participating in all aspects of the project, students become part of a scientific research project and begin to understand the scientific process. Background information about mammoths, the Pleistocene Epoch, and other mammoth excavations is derived from the literature and videos. Literature has included books written for the general public and scientific books and articles on details of mammoths such as osteology and theories of extinction. Field trips to other excavation sites and museums have enriched our project. A vertebrate paleontologist from the Illinois State Museum and a Quaternary geologist from the Illinois State Geological Survey have provided expertise in the excavation plan, digging and sampling techniques, identifying bones, and understanding the geology. Students learn to actively participate in discussions with geologists on 1) observations at the dig site, 2) data collection methods, 3) development of hypotheses about various aspects of the mammoth – his demise, his state of preservation, the time period, and 4) testing of hypotheses based on new observations and data. Students have many opportunities to share their growing knowledge with visitors at the site – both spontaneous drop-ins and scheduled school groups and news reporters. They also participate in site management and are excited to make real-life decisions and implement them in efforts to protect the pit from rain, manage crowd control, and decide how to bury the bones for the winter. They take pride in keeping the site clean and organized. Their final task is to write a progress report to a hypothetical funding agency. This report includes a review of the literature pertinent to our site, a section on methods of study, our findings and their scientific significance, a discussion of various hypotheses being considered and our progress in testing them.