HOLEY ROCKS! THE APPLICATION OF FLORIDA FOSSIL INVERTEBRATES TO MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNING STANDARDS IN ALACHUA COUNTY, FL

Museum collections provide untapped potential for developing educational resources and interacting with diverse audiences. While some educational resources exist in other collection divisions at the Florida Museum of Natural History (FLMNH), many of the resources in the Invertebrate Paleontology (IP) Division are either aimed toward providing resources to educators (e.g., fossil giveaways or creating teacher kits) or supporting academic activities (e.g., Academic Decathlon). Here, we utilize museum specimens to teach basic concepts of Florida geology and paleontology using the Eocene Ocala Limestone, a major rock unit with state-wide economic and environmental significance.

For development of our educational curriculum, we are targeting 7th grade students in Alachua County Middle Schools to teach a two-class period class activity fulfilling state standards. The first class period will consist of introducing basic paleontological and geological concepts. The second class period will be application of the previous concepts. In addition, these two sessions will be complemented by a half-day field trip to Powell Hall, where the Exhibits and Education Division of the FLMNH is located. This field trip will be led by the authors and will help to solidify the class knowledge with placing the geology in a larger context.

Once the educational curriculum and timeline of activities has been set, we will coordinate with the education staff at FLMNH to host the group field trip component at Powell Hall. Administrators and teachers will be contacted to test the feasibility of these lesson plans. After a complete lesson plan is developed, the results and template will be published and made publicly available for use by educators throughout Florida.