EARTH SCIENCE BEYOND THE DOORS OF THE CLASSROOM AND MUSEUM, LESSONS FROM THE ORDOVICIAN OF MINNESOTA

During the last five years the volunteer staff of the Science Museum of Minnesota and classroom participants have been exploring and documenting the Ordovician outcrops in and around Central and Southern Minnesota. Using field guides from the Minnesota Geological Survey these groups continue to collect and document both fossil specimens and stratigraphic information in the Lillydale Brickyards and other areas noted in the Geological Survey publications. These trips help to both enhance the participants understanding of geology and paleontology of the Ordovician, as well as contributing to the collections of the Science Museum of Minnesota. The volunteers then use this knowledge in both the paleontology preparation laboratory and interaction with museum visitors, and students further their understanding of paleontology/geology of Minnesota's often overlooked time period.