TEACHER TRILOBITE DAY

Info…about the workshop OnTrack 37469, section 80477 -- Earth Science Outside - Trilobite

 

For 2016, the date is Saturday OCTOBER 15th 2016

 

Trilobite Day is for all Utah teachers and their families, AND also there's workshop that includes lunch, explanations of how geologists tell relative age, meaning, what is younger than / older than, and a field exercise. Enjoy Teacher Trilobite Day with or without the 2-hr-relicensure credit workshop.

 

Where? UDig Quarry west of Delta

For information about UDig Quarry including maps, instructions on how long it takes and what roads are most convenient. http://www.u-digfossils.com/index.html

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Can any Utah teacher go to that quarry with family that day and get the discount?? And be coached about fossils?  YES

 

Why would I take the OnTrack workshop? In addition to being able to collect fossils as part of Teacher Trilobite Day, teachers and their families get (a) lunch; (b) a 1.5 workshop lecture and field exercise; and (c) 2 hour USOE relicensure credit. Go to OnTrack listing 37469.

 

Do we need to bring equipment? No. UDig provides rock hammers, safety glasses, and buckets for rocks with fossils. The fees are reduced for all Utah teachers on Teacher Trilobite Day, not just for teachers taking the workshop. SAFETY first, rocks move, be sensible. You must sign the UDig waiver and pay their fee to dig for fossils. There’s no additional fee for the lunch / workshop.

 

Bring WATER, sun protection…

 

What about clothing? Wear sensible shoes and clothes. October can be windy and quite cold or uncomfortably hot. Rocks can be uncomfortable to sit on. I wear hiking books, long pants, and may bring a cushion to sit on. It’s rarely buggy, but can be. Most important, wear sensible shoes.

 

Can family come too? Yes for Teacher Trilobite Day in the quarry and for lunch. However, the USOE workshop lecture is for teachers. If youngsters are along, make sure someone is responsible for them while you’re in the workshop.

 

Will there be information about the trilobites? YES the quarry folks are wonderfully friendly, knowledgeable and accommodating.

LINK to the workshop handout (DRAFT)

LINK to a simplified trilobite identification sheet

AND… if you really really want to witness the GEOLOGY from UTAH COUNTY TO UDIG QUARRY… here’s the LINK to a series of MP3 recordings of what you can see along the way. SAFETY FIRST. Do not take chances driving and watching geology. Hands on the wheel, eyes on the road.

 

When do we have to arrive by?

Get to the quarry anytime before noon and start finding fossil trilobites. Trilobites were the climax species of their time, creatures of the seas of 500 million years ago when what-is-now Utah was south of the equator and at sea level (!).

 

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE... Begins about noon with lunch for teachers and their families, then lecture and field exercise until 2:30PM

WORKSHOP: Limited to 50 teachers. (But all Utah teachers qualify for discounted price for fossil collection on Teachers' Trilobite Day).

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOME: After this workshop, teachers will know the rules of geologists’ “relative age” and be able to apply them, first to construction of a sandwich, and then to interpreting the age of rock units that surround us.

ACTIVITY – Lunch = build a stratigraphic sandwich. Then, work in groups to explain the evidence of how your sandwich came to be. What layer came first, etc, etc?

LECTURE – Introduction to the rules of how geologists interpret relative age (younger than / older than), specifically, Rule #1, superposition; Rule #2, cross-cutting relationships; Rule #3, original horizontality. Taught by Genevieve Atwood, PhD, former State Geologist, formerly at the UofU, and presently chief education officer of Earth Science Education.

APPLICATION / CHALLENGE – Observe the region's rock layers and cross-cutting surfaces. Figure out relationships of relative age, meaning, which rock layers are older than others, and which are the youngest. By the end of the workshop, teachers should understand how to figure out whether the gray bedrock with trilobites is the same age or older than the sediments of Sevier Lake / Lake Bonneville.

Is there homework? No… There’s an in-class worksheet.

Please sign the roll, provide your teacher information, turn in the worksheet and you get credit.

Questions for Genevieve? email = genevieveatwoodATcomcast.net and phone 801,647'8155 … . No cell service at the quarry.

 

LINK back to the Announcement / Flier.