Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds: A Hands-on Mini-workshop Comparing and Contrasting Hominids and Other Primates

 

Kathleen Nolan

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2014, Volume 35

Abstract

The Australopithecan skeleton”Lucy” was discovered while the song in the title, written by the Beetles, was playing on the radio in the background. In this workshop participants will: 1. Draw and color in bones that are “missing” on a poster of a Lucy skeleton (by comparison with a human skeleton) 2. Discuss sexual dimorphism in primates, make a graph from height and weight data of males and females of various primate species and explore how these differences may have helped the primates survive. 3. Calculate and compare size and volume of various skull models and discuss the implications of this. This hands-on exercise has been received well by Baruch College Honors, Regional Honors Collegial Council student members at a creative faculty workshop, and St. Francis College biology and nursing classes. It has been lauded as a way to help the students grasp differences among hominids and primates.

Keywords:  primates, human evolution, Australopithecus afarensis, Lucy, hominid

University of Calgary (2013)