Last
summer we had the First Annual Oklahoma Evolution Road Trip, with ten
participants and two instructors. I wrote all about it in my blog entries at
the beginning of June, 2013. Well, we have a Second Annual Oklahoma Evolution
Road Trip scheduled for April 26-27 in
Tulsa.
The
Oklahoma Evolution Road Trips are open to anyone who is interested in learning
more about evolution and the evidence for it that can be seen right here in
Oklahoma. (Last year we included Texas as well.) You don’t need a science
background, just a willingness to observe and learn. It is specifically
intended for science teachers, who can receive a certificate of professional
development credit. Registration cost is
$95. Online registration will be available soon through the Oklahoma Science
Teachers Association—I will keep you posted! If you are interested, block off
these dates in your schedule now!
Because
this is a serious learning experience, young children are not encouraged to
participate, although there can always be exceptions. This sounds like the kind
of trip I would have loved when I was twelve years old, but that few other
twelve-year-olds would have appreciated.
The
$95 cost covers transportation during the trip, refreshments on both mornings,
and lunches on both days. It does not include accommodations (which most
participants will not require) or the evening meal for those who wish to
participate in it. Participants who need accommodations can let me know as soon
as possible and, if there are enough of you, I will try to get a group
discount.
Last
summer, the trip was longer and more expensive because it was in a location
more distant from Oklahoma metropolitan areas. I believe we would have had more
teachers in the group had the cost and location been more convenient. Well, we
have solved that problem for 2014.
The
two instructors will be myself (Dr. Stanley Rice), a biology professor at
Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Cora James, the science curriculum
director for Putnam City Schools and a good amateur geologist. I am the author
of four nationally and internationally published science books, two of which
are about evolution. Both instructors bring a lot of experience with how to
make science, and especially evolution, interesting and relevant to the school
classroom in such a way as to highlight the positive learning experiences rather
than to create tension and conflict.
The
Second Annual Oklahoma Evolution Road Trip now has four professional
organizations sponsoring it! The sponsors are:
·
Society
for the Study of Evolution (Education Committee)
·
Oklahomans
for Excellence in Science Education
·
Oklahoma
Science Teachers Association
·
Oklahoma
Academy of Science
The
first of the organizations is one of the leading scientific societies in the
world and has sponsored and provided financial support for this trip through a
competitive grant. The other three organizations are the major professional
organizations for science education in the state.
Here
are the things we are going to do on this trip:
Saturday
morning, April 26. We will meet at the Martin Regional Library in Tulsa (2601
S. Garnett) for a discussion about what the participants know, and what they
want to know, about evolution, including: the rapid evolution that is now going
on in viruses and bacteria; the new DNA evidence for the evolutionary ancestry
of organisms, including humans; and the ongoing discovery of geological
evidence (especially fossils) for evolution. We will also learn about the
geological history of what is now Tulsa, right up to the last Ice Age, and how
fossils form.
Saturday
afternoon, April 26. After a catered light lunch, we will get into vans to go
find our own fossils. (Participants can leave their vehicles at the library.)
Bring plastic bags for collecting fossils (the instructors will have some for
you also). We will go out rain or shine, unless the weather is actually
dangerous. Individual vehicles are discouraged because of limited parking in
some places. Our destinations are:
1. A
location on Highway 51 where Ordovician fossils are washing out of loose rock.
You can find mostly crinoids but also an occasional trace fossil (fossilized
track).A crinoid is a stalked echinoderm. The traffic can be heavy but
where is plenty of space to keep away from the vehicles. This is public
easement and you can collect fossils.
2. Lake Skiatook. At one location on this lake maintained by the Army Corps of Engineers, there are numerous fossils of crinoids and brachiopods. Brachiopods have been rare for the last 250 million years but were common during the Ordovician period. They looked a lot like mollusks. Fossil collecting is also allowed here.
3. Arkansas
River. The bed of the Arkansas River, usually mostly dry, contains a lot of
things washed in from surrounding places; you can never be sure where they have
come from. Most of it is garbage, but once in a while you can find coal, or
even fossils such as this crinoids that got washed downstream from some unknown
source. Of course, you can keep whatever you find.
For
those who wish to continue discussion on Saturday evening, we can meet at a
restaurant. (The registration fee does not cover this cost.)
On
Sunday morning, April 27, we will meet again at the parking lot of the library
(which will be closed at that time), but where participants can leave their
vehicles. We will go by van out to Red Bud Valley northeast of Tulsa where we
will walk around most of the morning on the bluff trails.
If
you know where to look, you can find fossils, such as this amazing brachiopod
fossil I found last summer. Collecting is not permitted here, although
if you find something interesting the visitors’ center will be happy to get it
for their displays.
We
will also learn about tree adaptations. There are many, many different
evolutionary adaptations, each one appropriate for its own set of conditions.
For cottonwoods, living in flood plains, this means rapid growth, cheap wood,
and a short life. For oaks, living in stable forests, this means slow growth,
strong wood, and a long life. Tree ranges also shift during evolutionary time,
and in Red Bud Valley there are some trees, such as sugar maples, smoke trees, and
blue ashes, that were very common in Oklahoma thousands of years ago but have
mostly died off—except in this little sheltered spot. You see,
evolution is not just something that happened in the past and that you can
study with fossils; it is ongoing, and you can see it in the trees around you.
During
a catered light lunch in the shaded parking lot at Red Bud Valley, we can
discuss what we have seen, and then go back to the library parking lot.
Participants will be able to leave by 3:00 at the latest on Sunday afternoon.
A
word about next year’s Third Annual Oklahoma Evolution Road Trip: Plans are
underway for this trip to be offered for college credit through the Oklahoma
Scholar Leader Enrichment Program (OSLEP) during Spring Break 2015, housed
(like the 2013 trip) at the University of Oklahoma Biological Station on Lake
Texoma. Depending on the success of this year’s trip, we hope to offer the
cheap and short version of the trip on alternate years, so the next two-day
trip in an Oklahoma metropolitan area should take place in 2016.
Please
watch this spot for announcements about online registration, which we hope to
begin (along with public radio announcements) about March 17.
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