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ABLE 2007: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY June 5-9. Host: Ruth Beattie
E-mail: rebeat1@uky.edu
Major Workshops
Thursday June 8
Mark E. Lyford, University of Wyoming
Fossil Leaves and Paleoclimates
This laboratory is designed to engage students in a problem solving activity
that models how inferences are developed in science. Specifically, students
are presented with a future scenario in which an entrepreneur wishes to develop
a dinosaur theme park, populating it with the Cretaceous dinosaurs he grew up
loving (DNA technology has advanced enough to make this possible). He is
using DNA preserved in bones excavated from a site in Wyoming. To determine
what sort of climatic region he should buy land for his preserve, he has hired
the students to infer what sort of climatic regime these dinosaurs would have
lived in. The only clue is that there is a bed of fossil leaves adjacent
to the dig site that is of the same age as the bones.
Ultimately, the students will develop a relationship for estimating mean annual temperature of the site based on the characteristics of modern leaves. To get to this point, the instructor plays a central role in guiding students through a series of questions. Some groups will pursue a line of study that does not result in a good method of estimation, whereas other groups will. Once the class has agreed on the best method for estimating mean annual temperature, they use this means of estimation on the fossil leaf assemblage to determine the mean annual temperature of the site during Cretaceous times. This activity highlights the investigative nature of science, demonstrates how inferences can be made, and outlines some limitations of science based on assumptions that have to be made at times.