USING MUSEUM RESOURCES FOR AUTHENTIC RESEARCH TO INCREASE ENGAGEMENT IN SCIENCE IN AN URBAN HIGH SCHOOL

A high school Earth Science teacher and the Preparation Lab Manager/Researcher at Bighorn Basin Foundation/Wyoming Dinosaur Center (BHBF/WDC) collaborated to provide an authentic research experience for inner-city high school students The teacher attended a one-week Teacher's Program and an additional week at the BHBF/WDC in Thermopolis, Wyoming to learn the basics of fossil collection and preparation. The Big Horn Basin Foundation loaned raw fossil material for use in the high school classroom. The school was recently granted a waiver from the standardized state graduation exams and, instead, students are required to write a Performance-Based Assessment Task (PBAT). The students must complete independent science research, write about their findings and present their findings to a panel of adults, who will act as evaluators of their work. An upper-level science course was designed focusing on paleontology, and allowing students to complete independent research based on the fossil specimens on loan from BHBF/WDC. Course topics include in-depth study of sedimentology principles, depositional environments and fossil formation. Students were then taught how to clean and prepare the fossil specimens. Students collected matrix samples and inferred, based on grain size and compositional analysis, the depositional environment of the original organism. Through the course, the Preparation Lab Manager at BHBF/WDC provided expertise in the areas of fossil preparation, recommended resources, answered questions and mentored the teacher. A survey of course participants was conducted to measure outcomes of the collaboration. Preliminary results indicate students enrolled in the paleontology course report that the opportunity to work on authentic fossil specimens led to increased engagement, an increased interest in science as a college area of study and potentially as a career. Future studies will compare these students' level of engagement with students in other upper-level courses leading to the completion of the science PBAT at the same high school.