WALKING IN THE FOOTPRINTS OF DINOSAURS: SENSE OF PLACE IN EL PASO, TEXAS
In 2002, over 1000 Cretaceous dinosaur tracks were discovered at 8 different sites in the El Paso region, with the largest outcrops at Mt. Cristo Rey, a well known religious monument that straddles the International Border. Illegal quarrying of the track bearing strata, and smelter related environmental impacts presented the need for public awareness and education, and opened the door to share the excitement of scientific discovery and curiosity, and also a sense of stewardship. Since then, 211 acres were donated to a local museum, and educational materials and interpretive trail maps have been developed. To date, the author has offered over 400 free field trips to the general public, schools, clubs, local organizations, even businesses, always emphasizing personal observation and ethical values. The strategies of nature interpretation and discovery were used in all field trips, educational materials, teacher in-services, and presentations. Field trip participants walk where dinosaurs left their footprints; this has powerful implications for visitors to the site, seeing how we have inherited this land from these creatures, and how it is our role to be caretakers of it. Sense of Place is more than just Paleontology; and includes Archaeology, History, Ethnobotany, Ichnology, and Environmental Sciences. Learners explore an ecosystem drastically affected by metals from a local smelter, and often leave with a passion for stewardship. “Code switching”, teaching names in Spanish as well as English, has proven invaluable due to local demographics. This type of field experience surpasses the cognitive and psychomotor domains, and enters the affective domain through exploration and excitement.
The Cerro de Cristo Rey tracksite is an ideal outdoor classroom, visited by many classes from the University of Texas at El Paso, and in the interest of student recruitment, future studies, and preservation, Sense of Place must be critical component for field trips.