Museum to-go kits bring Idaho’s ice-age fossils and dino bones to classrooms

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Published astatine 4:15 pm, August 20, 2024

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Carly Flandro, Idaho Ed News

Robert Gay pinch juvenile mammoth femur bone

POCATELLO (Idaho Ed News) — For immoderate of nan world’s champion crystal property fossils, look nary further than nan American Falls reservoir bed. Not acold from there, “weird and wild” dinosaur bones tin beryllium recovered successful a geologically unsocial portion of eastbound Idaho.

Now students person nan chance to research it each from their ain classrooms.

The Idaho Museum of Natural History is launching mini depository to-go kits this autumn successful an effort to grow its acquisition scope and observe Idaho’s uniqueness.

The depository has done immoderate proceedings runs pinch nan kits and truthful far, “they’ve been a large hit,” said Robert Gay, nan museum’s acquisition curator.

“Everyone loves them,” he said. “They’ve allowed kids to spot things that nan schoolroom did not person nan expertise to root aliases physically reference connected their own.”

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Because section trips and recreation tin beryllium costly and retired of scope for immoderate schools, nan depository is bringing hands-on learning to students wherever they are.

“There’s nary alternative, really, to nan authentic acquisition of doing thing firsthand, whether that’s seeing thing firsthand, rubbing thing firsthand, aliases making thing firsthand,” Gay said.

The kits person different topics — for illustration nan crystal property successful Idaho, nan Hagerman fossil beds and dinosaurs of Idaho. Then they’re packed pinch related artifacts for illustration 3D prints of dinosaur bones — including the caller authorities dinosaur, nan oryctodromeus.

Each kit, packaged successful a rugged tote, comes pinch standards-aligned instruction plans for grades K-12, designed by Gay, who is simply a erstwhile mediate and precocious schoolhouse subject teacher.

Gay hopes nan kits will foster “a greater appreciation for our shared earthy history present successful Idaho.”

“We person immoderate astonishing things present that I don’t deliberation a batch of Idahoans cognize about,” he continued.

For example: nan buzzsaw shark — a “bizarre creature” that lived successful Idaho 270 cardinal years ago.

“The world master connected these buzzsaw sharks is correct present astatine nan Idaho Museum of Natural History,” Gay said. “So we’re capable to supply contented astir this weird, creepy, 40-foot-long shark that utilized to aquatics successful Idaho backmost erstwhile we were covered by an ocean, which I deliberation is beautiful wild.”

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This fall, location are a fistful of kits disposable for checkout, and much are being added — including 1 connected nan authorities dinosaur, 1 connected geology, and 1 connected nan Hagerman horse. The depository will besides beryllium moving pinch Idaho’s 5 federally recognized tribes to create kits “that are centered astir their story.” Ultimately, location will beryllium astir a twelve kits available, Gay said.

Teachers will beryllium capable to petition nan kits online successful September via nan museum website, and get to support them for 2 weeks. The kits are free, and shipping is covered by Idaho State University’s College of Education. Learn much astir nan kits here.

The kits are 1 of a fewer initiatives aimed astatine bringing nan depository to schools. Teachers tin besides petition impermanent speakers from nan museum, and adjacent summer, a mobile depository van decked retired pinch paleontology displays and exhibits will statesman walking nan state.

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“What we’re really pushing is we want our Idaho students to understand earthy history astatine nan highest level possible,” Gay said. “The only measurement to do that is by creating authentic experiences, and that intends hands-on.”