INTERACTIVE EDUCATIONAL MEDIA AT THE NOVA SCOTIA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History (NSMNH) has a long-standing commitment to the development of educational resources regarding the natural heritage of our province. The focus of our efforts over the past several years has been on interactive media. The Nova Scotia Museum and the NSMNH boast one of Canada's largest museum educational web sites. One of the latest developments highlights trace fossils of Eastern Canada on the web site, "The Mystery of Trace Fossils". The web site was a cooperative undertaking, with support from the Virtual Museum of Canada, a federal Canadian Heritage initiative to place more Canadian content on the world-wide web. "The Mystery of Trace Fossils" can be accessed through the Virtual Museum of Canada at http://www.virtualmuseum.ca. Eastern Canada is blessed with an extraordinarily rich and diverse palaeontological history. The trace fossils from Eastern Canada include some of the world's firsts, only's, biggest, oldest, and sexiest. Highlights of Nova Scotia's palaeontological heritage include trackways of the world's second-oldest amphibian and reptile from Horton Bluff. Local scientists have unearthed evidence of the world's earliest herding behaviour in vertebrates at Brule, long before dinosaurs were roaming in groups. The smallest dinosaur footprints in the world were created in what is now Nova Scotia. The largest bug to roam the Earth 315 million years ago left behind a trace that resembles a train track at Joggins. At the same time a pair of horseshoe crabs "frolicked" on a nearby beach. Currently, there are very few web sites on the internet that deal exclusively and intelligently with the science of trace fossils. Very few of these web sites have any Canadian content. The creation of an Eastern Canadian trace fossil website helps bridge the gap that exists in this fascinating science and fosters pride in our Canadian heritage. The online exhibit enables the NSMNH to educate a wide-ranging national and international public audience about Nova Scotia's prestigious palaeontological heritage.