We've arranged a global civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster.

Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996.

Every Young kid will tell you that dinosaurs and fossils are really cool or, in the words of one four-year old, “dinosaurs are cool, and fossils are the best!” Dinosaurs and fossils are the window through which most kids and many adults now get their first introduction to science. Paleontology is art, science, and imagination; it inspires a wealth of curiosity by students about ancient life and helps all of us to know about our origins and how our world with humans came to be.

In November of 1995, the Alabama Department of Education required all biology textbooks used in the state to display a disclaimer informing the young reader that

This textbook discusses evolution, a controversial theory some scientists present as a scientific explanation for the origin of living things, such as plants, animals and humans. No one was present when life first appeared on earth, therefore, any statement about life's origins should be considered as theory, not fact.

Although People are enthusiastic about science, it is appalling when a recent survey by the National Science Foundation indicates that only about 25 percent of American adults can correctly answer basic science questions. Interestingly, those surveyed admitted that they were not well-informed about technical subjects. Presumably, this contrast of enthusiasm versus actual knowledge translates to children as well as adults. With these points in mind, the importance of presenting scientific concepts in a variety of creative ways utilizing multiple approaches is critical if we are to have a scientifically literate society – a society that we expect to make informed decisions concerning matters related to science. Although textbooks present various scientific topics, commonly it is difficult for students to understand the concepts, appreciate the importance, and retain the information relating to relevant scientific subjects. Paleontology has the unique advantage of not only being a mixture of two very important areas of science (biology and geology), but perhaps more than any other area of science, it can be used as a “lure” to present fundamental concepts in the sciences through the study of prehistoric animals.

One of the many ways to illustrate various scientific concepts is through the use of visual aids. Whereas materials in the classroom have the advantage of being accessible, materials seen on field trips commonly have far greater impact because of the novelty of getting out of the standard classroom setting. When asked years later the memorable experiences of various courses, many individuals remember field trips to museums. Unfortunately, even though museums are packed with possibilities for illustrating various concepts, they often are not used at all or not used to their fullest educational potential. Although the logistics and costs of taking a class to a museum may be somewhat cumbersome, the value to the education of the students cannot be overemphasized.

The Typical visitor thinks of a natural history museum as a place to go to view interesting displays. They expect to come away from the experience with increased knowledge and appreciation of the educational message of each exhibit. However, few visitors are aware that a natural history museum is much more than exhibits. Typically, such a museum has less than five percent of its specimens on display. What function does the other ninety-five percent serve? How are specimens obtained? What happens to specimens once they are included in a museum's permanent collections? These are questions which few visitors think about as they view displays in a natural history museum.

The Explosive growth of the World Wide Web, a vast network of interconnected computers, has resulted in the availability of large amounts of information useful to K-16 teachers. The Web allows you to seamlessly access multimedia information (text, images, and binary files) from servers anywhere in the world. The problem is finding this information and being sure it's correct (almost anyone can create a Web page). This paper is an attempt to bring some order to the chaos. It refers to a listing of many paleontology resources on the Web which may be of interest to K-16 students and instructors; and provides some tips on how these resources may be used in a classroom setting.

Dinosaurs are recognized as one of the most ubiquitous groups of fossil organisms in the classroom curriculum. There are many resources (books, videotapes, posters, etc.) available to the classroom teacher, but an actual visit to a natural history museum with dinosaur and related paleontological exhibits is out of the reach of the majority of schools unless located near large urban centers or near universities. Advances in distance learning technologies now provide the opportunity to reach audiences unable to visit museums during the course of the school year. These technologies also lend themselves to the evaluation of various pedagogical techniques that bring scientific content to widely dispersed audiences.

Science is a method of knowing and not a set of established facts. Even though this is widely acknowledged in the literature of science education, it is not so in the perception of the general public. Therefore, it is little wonder that when a “scientific fact” changes due to the discovery of new evidence, students raised on the notion of fact-based science may become confused and begin to mistrust science. Involvement in actual scientific experience, however, can make a difference. Once students participate in scientific endeavors, they see science as an active process, something ongoing instead of something completed. Few experiences compare with the paleontological field trip as an educational tool for exemplifying the basic method of science. We believe the following reasons make frequent field trips worth incorporating into the standard science curriculum at all grade levels.

The Classic usage of the term museum implies a collection of objects, not a display, though this has been the common usage since the late 19th century. The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is predominantly a museum in the classic sense. In this case the collection of objects is a research and study collection of fossil and Recent organisms. Visitors will find a few display cases, a very impressive Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton accompanied by a Pteranodon ingens flying overhead, a couple of dinosaur skulls, and plans for expansion. However, the overwhelming part of the collections is not usually accessible to the public. Nonetheless it is the mission of UCMP “…to facilitate the understanding of the history of life through service to research to education, and to the public.” It is the use of technology that has allowed us to more effectively reach the public sector.

Learning from the Fossil Record is a title carefully chosen for it conveys multiple concepts. Paleontologists, geologists, biologists, and others use the fossil record to learn about the past history of the Earth. Using this knowledge, we have gained an understanding of geologic processes that continue today, biodiversity past and present, species origination and extinction, past and present climates, oceans, and atmospheres among others. In fact, we have been able to piece together the fascinating story of our dynamic Earth for the past 3.5 billion years.

The Activities that follow are from The Best of BAESI, a collection of 19 hand-on lessons modeled by teacher-participants in the Bay Area Earth Science Institute. BAESI was founded in 1990 at San Jose University. A non-profit organization supported by the National Science Foundation, San Jose State University, and a consortium of government, corporate, and academic partners, BAESI is built on the following observations:

Paleontology, and in particular the study of dinosaurs, is an exciting topic to people of all ages. Although most attention in today's world focuses on dinosaurs and why they became extinct, the world of paleontology includes many other interesting organisms that tell us about Earth's past history. The study of fossils and what they tell scientists about past climates and environments on Earth can be an interesting study for students of all ages.

The Age of fossils intrigues almost everyone. Students not only want to know how old a fossil is, but they want to know how that age was determined. Some very straightforward principles are used to determine the age of fossils. Students should be able to understand the principles and have that as a background so that age determinations by paleontologists and geologists don't seem like black magic.

Telling the history of the earth requires placing events in sequence so that reference can be given to the relative and/or numerical time at which each event occurred. This helps to make sense out of the enormous expanse of time that has elapsed since the origin of the earth. This activity will help students to understand the methods used by geologists in creating the Geologic Time Scale.

Suppose You are given one hour to tell someone about paleontology. The audience is naive but interested. They want to know something about paleontology but have not previously received, and may ever again receive, formal instruction in the subject. What will you choose to talk about?

The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, South Dakota, Inc. is the largest accumulation of Columbian Mammoths discovered in their primary context in the world. The site was found in 1974, during excavation for a housing project. Over one million visitors from all over the world have come to see the bone remains of 48 Columbian and 3 Woolly mammoths, plus 25 species of other animals that lived together 26,000 years ago.

As the concepts of time, past life, and fossils are often difficult for children to comprehend and as many of the National Parks and Monuments have important paleontological resources, Fossil Butte National Monument developed a fossil education curriculum guide designed to aid teachers presenting these principles to students in the second and third grades. The following activities are modified from that guide (Leite, M. B. and Breithaupt, B. H., 1994, Teaching Paleontology in the National Parks and Monuments: A curriculum guide for teachers of the second and third grade levels: National Park Service, Fossil Butte National Monument, Kemmerer, WY 103 p.). For more information on this curriculum guide distributed though the National Park Service, please contact Ms. Marsha Fagnant, Fossil Butte National Monument, P.O. Box 592, Kemmerer, WY 83101.