THE DISCOVERIES IN GEOSCIENCES (DIG) FIELD SCHOOL: TEACHER AND STUDENT INVOLVEMENT WITH REAL RESEARCH IN THE CLASSROOM

The Discoveries in Geosciences (DIG) Field School is a unique, non-profit education program for K-12 teachers created by University of Washington Burke Museum paleontologists. The DIG provides teachers with a hands-on, immersive learning experience through a four-day field program in northeastern Montana, and connects students with researchers on a year round basis through our classroom curricula aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The program began in 2010 with seven local Montana teachers, and has since served 150 teachers from 24 states and reached over 12,000 students.

A centerpiece of our outreach efforts is sending bags of fossiliferous sediment from northeastern Montana to classrooms associated with the program. This sediment is collected as part of the Hell Creek III Project, which is a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary research endeavor focused on better understanding the biotic and abiotic patterns and processes surrounding the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event. Students systematically sort through this sediment, remove and identify vertebrate microfossils within the sediment, and record their findings in a structured data entry system. This data is then vetted by members of the DIG team, and eventually included in our research and museum databases. Through this activity and the lesson plans we provide to teachers, students are introduced to a number of biological and geological concepts. Moreover, these students experience a fun way to interact with the NGSS science practices and cross cutting concepts, are actively involved in the scientific process, and directly contribute to ongoing research and curatorial efforts. This intimate involvement with our research and researchers has shown to be an effective way to solidify student understanding of scientific concepts and methods, as well spark student interest in science.