Sikh Temple Summer Camp June 2014

On June 20, the Sikh Temple in Durham had it's summer camp program. I was invited to give a fossil program along with Prithijit Chatrath, the former curator of the Duke Lemur Center, Division of Fossil Primates. There were around 30 students who came to the program, and some had participated in this same event last year. Prithijit explained how and where various fossils were formed and found. My exhibit had many fossils from NC and other sites displayed on two tables. The kids guessed what they were as I described each to them. Then they came up to our tables in smaller groups to match other fossil fragments or teeth with the complete fossils or jaws on the tables. There were some potential paleontologists in the class who were really good at finding the corresponding fossil. Others were already planning on becoming doctors or scientists. After that, everyone was given a baggie of reject material from PCS that had at least 30 fossils mixed in with it. The kids sorted through the material to find the various sharks teeth, shells, ray plates, bryozoa, coral, fish vertebrae, and other fossils. Each one got an ID sheet with photos of the fossils and a magnifying lens to help out with the identification. They were thrilled that they could keep the fossils and everything else for future explorations. Everyone had a lot of fun, and many fossils were found by all."