WEBQUEST:

The Discovery Of Fossils

Dana Hamilton

Morris High School, Science

Introduction: This assignment is based on our curriculum “Biology”. Many students are interested in discovering fossils and using these clues to find information about the past. Student will use this webquest to find policies on the ownership of fossils. This will help students understand the ecological issues presented when fossils are discovered.

Task: You are an archeologist and you just discovered human remains (preservation of hard body parts) decorated with gold and precious stones. What is the policy on ownership? Does it matter if the land is privately or publicly owned?

Your task is to gather information on the following

A) Policy for the ownership of archaeological discoveries.

B) Should archaeological explore mutual benefits?

C) Can the government preserve the rights to make nonprofit groups used these discoveries?

D) Should permission be granted for nonprofit used of the fossils by a museum?

E) Present your findings in a policy statement using PowerPoint. The policy statement should be presented with the research findings to make a persuasive case.

The Process:

Students will work in groups. Each group will search the Internet for information on the topic. One person will be the recorder and one will be the reporter. The other student will search the Internet to generate the information. This lesson will familiarize students with the use of the Internet as a research tool. The lesson will also identify the policy of ownership when fossils are found. Students will be able to devise a new policy on research.

Resources

Sites of interest

http://www.bhigr.com/pages/ffacts /ff_main.htm

http://www.dol.gov/fossilreport.htm

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/02/000228115941.htm

http://www.dinosauria.com/jdp/law/act.htm

http://www.cpm.mmm.acuk/jom-emit/1997

http://archaeology.about.com

http://tgd.advanced.org/3011/

http://www.fimnh.uf/edu/hatsci/vertpaleo/upper

Rubric- Evaluating students performance

	Needs improvement	Satisfactory	Exemplary
Concepts	Concepts are used inaccurately.	Some Concepts are used inaccurately.	Concepts are used accurately.
Details	Supporting details do not explain the concepts.	Some details do not explain the concepts.	Details support the concepts.
Format	No format followed.	A general format followed.	Format is followed perfectly.
Accuracy	Serious grammatical errors.	Few serious spelling mistakes.	Grammatically perfect.

Conclusion: Due to the research and analysis of the data on the policy of ownership of fossil. Students will be able to make proper decision on who owns a fossil. They will also discover the current government policy on fossil ownership. Students will also be able to devise new policies concerning the ownership of new fossil discoveries.