A Texas paleontology field experience you can take back to your classroom.  Ben Neuman, (Biology and MPIM) 

This experience will give you the tools to lead your own field trip to collect, clean and identify fossils from Mineral Wells Fossil Park.  The fossil park is located within easy driving distance of Dallas-Fort Worth, has and is a public fossil hunting paradise where almost everything you pick up will be a fossil from a marine coral and sponge reef from the Carboniferous period, about 306-307 million years ago. 

This is a two-day course.  On day 1 we will assemble in the morning at Mineral Wells Fossil Park, in Mineral Wells TX to collect fossils.  You will need to provide your own transportation, but I am happy to carpool with anyone who can get to the Bryan/College Station area early in the morning.  In the shaded picnic area at the park, we will talk about fossilization, the world of the Carboniferous, and the sorts of things to look for, and then we will spend a few hours collecting.  There are toilets on site, but it’s the Texas summer, so bring plenty of water and sunscreen. 

On day 2 we will be back in a lab at TAMU, cleaning, identifying and even dissecting fossils.  I will show you how to access a good, free identification guide, and we will spend a day using simple classroom-friendly tools like toothpicks, toothbrushes and water to clean the fossils, with short breaks to talk about how some of the different fossil organisms worked, what we can learn from their fossils, and how to tell when you are looking at a new species.  At the end, the fossils are yours to keep, and the experience will be one that you can share with your families and students. 

Disclaimer: Please note that this session is part of a two-day workshop. Completion of the workshop is contingent on attending both sessions on July 17 & 18.