Engaging High School Students with Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized
Explore a gamified curriculum unit, "Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized", designed to immerse high school students in Earth sciences through interactive gameplay, assessment tools, and rich learning objectives aligned with NGSS and TEKS standards. Discover a self-contained module focusing on fossils, evolution, and Earth system changes, enhancing student engagement and understanding in a fun and educational way.
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Designed by Rowan Martindale & Anna Weiss High School Modification by: Enrique Reyes, Estefania Salgado Jaregui, Kathy Ellins, & Rowan Martindale
Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized Table of Contents (Click links to jump) 5. The Lesson 5.1. Student Worksheets 5.2. Assessments 1. Important Links Overview 2. Learning Objectives/ 5.3. Student & Teacher Course Alignment 3. Gameplay 1. Era 1 2. Era 2 3. Era 3 6. Resources 7. References
Important Links SERC Teach The Earth Page: https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activities /234609.html Texas Data Repository Page (For Direct Downloading): https://dataverse.tdl.org/dataset.xhtml?persi stentId=doi:10.18738/T8/USRIGL Return to TOC Return to TOC
Module Overview https://bit.ly/DeadnFossilized Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized is an opportunity to gamify your curriculum & engage your students in a different way! Details: - Self-contained, short unit (1- 2 weeks) - Introductory materials - Formative & Summative assessments Return to TOC Return to TOC
Learning Objectives & Lesson Alignment Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Earth Sciences High School (Earth Systems): HS-ESS2-2 Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems. Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills (TEKS) Earth & Space Science Chapter 112.36 (High School): (c8) The student knows that fossils provide evidence for geological & biological evolution. Students are expected to: (A) analyze and evaluate a variety of fossil types such as transitional fossils, proposed transitional fossils, fossil lineages, and significant fossil deposits with regard to their appearance, completeness, and alignment with scientific explanations in light of this fossil data. (B) explain how sedimentation, fossilization, and speciation affect the degree of completeness of the fossil record. Return to TOC Return to TOC
Gameplay - 1st Era In this era, our 10 starting organisms die in 1 of 6 ways determined by dice roll 1. Delicately eaten 2. Eaten and digested 3. Peacefully death 4. Attacked 5. Anoxia 6. Thermal stress Return to TOC Return to TOC
Gameplay - 2nd Era In this era, players will take turns taking 2 actions per turn! They can: 1) Use a Taphonomy card to affect organisms with tokens. 2) Use a burial token on their own organism! After each full round, a green Environmental Event card is played to affect all organisms! Return to TOC Return to TOC
Gameplay - 3rd Era In this era, the collection phase begins. Players play purple Discovery cards to collect their own organisms from the gameboard, or an unclaimed fossil! Highest point total wins! Return to TOC Return to TOC
The Lesson - Day 1 - A one-block (60 minute) intro lesson Formative assessment - - Day 2-3 - Gameplay - Summative Assessment Return to TOC Return to TOC
Student Worksheets 3 Basic Introductory Activities to scaffold learning for students. Learning Goals include: - Evaluate preservation bias - Conceptualize environmental events & affects across time - Compare/Contrast models for fossilization Return to TOC Return to TOC
Assessments This module includes assessments aligned with the learning students engage in. - Use the Formative Assessment to address misconceptions. - Use the Summative assessment to elicit critical thinking & reflection. Return to TOC Return to TOC
Student & Teacher Resources These are resources that are prepared to simplify your and your students experience learning experience: - Board at the Game Start - Cheat Sheet - Dead and Fossilized Board Game Lab - Game Booklet - Taphonomy Game Teachers Notes Return to TOC Return to TOC
Student & Teacher Resources These are resources about the fossil site the game is based on. We recommend exploring these for background. - The Geology paper about the site: A new Early Jurassic fossil Lagerst tte from Ya Ha Tinda, Canada (~183 Ma) (hyperlinked). - If you want something more approachable, there are several short news articles about the paper (click for hyperlinks): the Jackson School at UT Austin (with a facebook video), The Calgary Herald, The International Business Times. - Dr. Martindale gave a 1-hour public talk about the site at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology: https://youtu.be/YU7JYdoinTA. - A podcast about the game (from GSA 2018) can be found here. Return to TOC Return to TOC
Student & Teacher Resources These are paleontological resources that we recommend The Paleontological Society and PaleoSoc Educational Material. Connect with a local expert through the Paleontological Society Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Find rocks in your backyard with the Rock d app or Macrostrat Skype a scientist PaleoPortal. Want a Career in Paleo? Paleobiology Database HHMI s Biointeractive Jackson School Museum of Earth History s Vertebrate Paleo Lab, NonVertebrate Paleo Lab & Outreach Resources. Fossils of Texas Cincinnati Dry Dredgers Return to TOC Return to TOC
References Martindale, & Weiss, 2020. Taphonomy: Dead and Fossilized : A new board game designed to teach college undergraduate students about the process of fossilization. Journal of Geoscience Education. doi: 10.1080/10899995.2019.1693217. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKs) Return to TOC Return to TOC
