USING VERTEBRATE MICROFOSSIL SAMPLES FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS HELL CREEK FORMATION TO INVOLVE INTRODUCTORY (100-LEVEL) EARTH SCIENCE STUDENTS IN ORIGINAL SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

We replaced the standard laboratory component in an introductory (100-level) geology course with a scientific research project where students sorted through fossil-rich sediments in order to discover, identify, and analyze micovertebrate fossils (including fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, and mammals) from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation. This project expands on ongoing work by the “Discoveries in Geosciences (DIG) Field School,” program, which focuses on helping K–12 teachers develop innovative curricula that teach science as a process and brings real science into the K-12 classroom through coordination with paleontologists working at an active field research site in northeastern Montana.

In addition to teaching college-level students about how science works as a discipline, replacing standard college-level laboratory courses with classes that have a discovery-based research component can also be an effective tool for increasing student engagement and retention. However, it is often difficult to find an engaging, authentic research project that introductory-level science students can complete within the confines of one college course. This is especially true for courses at schools that run on the quarter system, which typically have only 10 weeks of instruction.

Several aspects make the research project presented here an ideal way to engage college-level students in scientific research. 1) Students can quickly learn the basic techniques needed for collecting and recording data. 2) The projects do not require specialized equipment; data can be collected using standard dissecting microscopes that are already used in Earth Science and biology undergraduate classes. 3) Scientifically significant results can be obtained over the course of one 10-week quarter. 4) The research topic can easily be tied into classroom discussions of important geologic concepts, including: climatic/environmental change, geologic time, sedimentary rocks and depositional environments, patterns of evolution, and the causes of faunal change and extinctions. Last, but not least, students were excited to have the opportunity to discover a dinosaur fossil, to contribute an ongoing study of the Cretaceous extinction, and to have the fossils they discovered added to the Burke Museum collections.