Fossil Finders: Using Fossils to Teach about Evolution, Inquiry and Nature of Science

化石发现者项目让全国各地的孩子们在教室里对泥盆纪化石进行真实的调查。目标包括支持儿童使用证据来解释自然现象，并激励文化和语言不同的儿童群体参与学习科学。这个为期四年的项目是康奈尔大学教育系和位于纽约伊萨卡的古生物研究所（PRI）的合作项目。来自两个等级跨度（第5/6和第7/8）的教室接收来自纽约北部纽约露头的页岩层的装运样品。可交付成果包括开发和测试一个互动网站，孩子们在其中学习如何识别他们发现的化石，并将自己的数据添加到新兴数据库中。一个关键的重点是，教室里的儿童比例偏低（英语学习者，[ELL]和种族和性别在科学领域代表性不足的儿童）。开发的材料涉及尖端的STEM跨学科科学内容，包括环境科学，全球气候变化，变异，适应，生物进化和化石记录。两组试点教师接受专业发展，并在暑期工作会议和下一学年的实地测试课程中为材料开发做出贡献。化石发现者正在评估儿童和教师对进化科学概念、科学本质和探究的理解的学习进展。该项目正在帮助儿童和教师了解科学家如何使用证据来建立理论，提高调查能力，并激发目标人口（女性，低SES和ELL学生）对古生物学，生物学和地质学的兴趣。 化石博物馆更广泛的影响包括为非正式-正式的伙伴关系提供一个可行的国家模式，其中自然历史博物馆与教室相连;提供基于调查的真实科学体验;并可能扩大服务不足的学生群体的参与。

The Fossil Finders project engages children in classrooms across the country in an authentic investigation of Devonian fossils. Goals include supporting children in the use of evidence in constructing explanations of natural phenomena, and motivating culturally and linguistically diverse groups of children to engage in learning science. The four-year project is a collaboration of Cornell University Department of Education and the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) in Ithaca, New York. Classrooms from two grade spans (5th/6th and 7th/8th) receive shipped samples of layers of shale from an Upstate New York outcrop. Deliverables include development and testing of an interactive website where children learn how to identify the fossils they find and add their own data to an emerging database. A key focus is on classrooms with a high proportion of underrepresented groups of children (English language learners, [ELL] and children whose race and gender are not well represented in the sciences). Developed materials involve cutting-edge STEM interdisciplinary science content, including environmental science, global climate change, variation, adaptation, biological evolution, and the fossil record. Two groups of pilot teachers receive professional development and contribute to materials development during summer work sessions and field test curriculum the following school year. Fossil Finders is assessing learning progressions of children and teacher understandings of evolutionary science concepts, nature of science, and inquiry. The project is helping children and teachers understand how scientists use evidence to build theory, enhancing abilities to do inquiry, and stimulating interest in paleontology, biology, and geology in target demographics (females, low SES, and ELL students). Fossil Finder's broader impacts include providing a viable national model for informal-formal partnerships in which natural history museums connect with classrooms; providing inquiry-based, authentic science experiences; and potentially broadening participation among underserved groups of students.