Paleontology ›  Unit 7

Unit 7 Field to Museum

Prospecting with drones and GPS, digging and jacketing fossils, scanning them into 3D, and the careers behind every step. Ends with the course capstone: your own discovery, from rock to museum.

🕐 10 class days🅰️ 4 Activities🅿️ 2 Projects🅱️ 1 Problem
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The Path Through Unit 7

A rancher's photo just landed in the museum's inbox: a row of dark bones weathering out of a badlands slope. The museum wants you to lead the dig. Read the full case →
7.1In the field4 days
PProject🕐 2 class days

P7.1.3  Mock Quarry

Excavate a buried skeleton from a sand bin as a field crew. Grid the quarry, record where every bone sits before you lift it, and jacket one specimen in plaster. Digging is the fun part; the map and field notes are what make the find worth anything to science.

Turn in: Gridded quarry map + field notebook + one jacketed specimenOpen →
7.2In the lab and beyond4 days
PProject🕐 2 class days

P7.2.3  Scan It, Share It

Photograph a fossil cast from every angle and turn the photos into a 3D model with free photogrammetry software. Clean it up, measure it digitally, and share it so anyone can study it without touching the original. Printing a copy is optional.

Turn in: Shareable 3D model + a short process logOpen →
7.3Unit problem and course capstone2 days
BProblem🕐 2 class days

B7.3.1  From Rock to Museum

A new skeleton is weathering out of a badlands slope, and you're leading the project. Plan the excavation, date the layer, figure out what the animal was and when it lived, reconstruct how it lived, and pitch how the public should meet it. Every unit in the course is fair game.

Turn in: Discovery dossier: site plan, age and identity argument, reconstruction, and exhibit pitchOpen →