A Mammoth Expedition Citizen Science Investigations

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Simon Russell
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Distance Learning Grade Level: 5th 12th Duration: 45 minutes Wisconsin Standards: Language Arts F.8.1 National Standards: Language Arts- NL-ENG.-12.

lead to amazing discoveries. As a matter of fact, many archaeological sites are found just like this by untrained people of all ages.

1 Distance Learning Grade Level: 5th 12th Duration: 45 minutes Wisconsin Standards: Language Arts F.8.1 National Standards: Language Arts- NL-ENG Applying Language Skills A Mammoth Expedition ASSIGNMENT #1 CLASSROOM Calling Citizen Science Investigators BACKGROUND A walk in the woods, plowing a field, or even playing in your backyard can lead to amazing discoveries. As a matter of fact, many archaeological sites are found just like this by untrained people of all ages. These Citizen Science Investigators or CSIs are the link between discovery and research, which help us preserve and understand our past. If CSIs do not seek out expert advice through museums, universities, DNR offices or other such agencies, precious artifacts and information may be lost forever. Issues regarding artifacts on public or private property are also dependent on the Citizen Science Investigator. Every one of us needs to be aware of the role we play in preserving our history and understand that we are part of a bigger archaeological team. FOCUS QUESTION What are Citizen Science Investigators? East Tennessee State University Gilbreath Drive P.O. Box Johnson City, TN CSI OBJECTIVES Students will: 1. Read an interesting story about an exciting discovery. 2. Explain what it means to be a Citizen Science Investigator. 3. Understand and appreciate how citizens can bridge the gap between scientists and the scientific discoveries that lead to important research. MATERIALS Article titled A Mammoth Birthday, Field Notes (assignment #1) Milwaukee Public Museum W. Wells St. Milwaukee, WI PROCEDURE Read the news article provided to your class. Discuss and answer the questions in the Field Notes section of assignment #1. 1 A Mammoth Expedition 2017 Assignment #1

2 EXTENSION Many businesses, schools, or institutions develop what is called a mission statement. A mission statement lets others know what purpose the organization has within the community. It should also state the organization s overall goal that guides its actions. For example, the mission statements for your host museums are: The Milwaukee Public Museum inspires curiosity, excites minds and increases desire to preserve and protect our world s natural and cultural diversity through exhibitions, educational programs, collections and research. East Tennessee State University prepares students to become productive, enlightened citizens who actively serve their communities and the world. Education is the university s highest priority, and the institution is committed to increasing the level of educational attainment in the state and region. The university conducts a wide array of educational and reserch programs and clinical services and is the only Academic Helath Sciences Center in the Tennessee Board of Regents System. Through research, creative activity and public service ETSU advances the cultural, intellectual and economic development of the region and the world. The University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology (UMMP) is a research museum devoted to studying the history of life, interpreting its meaning, and sharing these experiences with students. It provides staff, laboratory, and field support for faculty and students to conduct new and original empirical investigations of the history of life. Also, UMMP provides space and facilities for conserving, organizing, and studying collections of fossil specimens and accompanying information resulting from field investigations. Think of your class as an organization of Citizen Science Investigators. Think of a name for your organization and, using what you just learned about the role of a CSI, compose a mission statement for your class. Name: Date: 2 A Mammoth Expedition 2017 Assignment #1

3 FIELD NOTES ASSIGNMENT #1 CLASSROOM Calling Citizen Science Investigators! 1. How many citizen scientist investigators (or CSIs) did you find in this story? List them here by name. 2. What different types of roles did these CSIs play in this story? For example, did they all dig up a mammoth or mastodon from the ground? Give two examples of different CSIs. 3. Why do you think it is important that researchers and scientists need to work together with CSIs? 4. Did Ms. Rundblad and the others act as responsible Citizen Science Investigators? Discuss with your class and explain your final thoughts here. 5. What do you think your role will be as CSIs in this year s expedition? Please have prepared a class response to present during the first video conference. 3 A Mammoth Expedition 2017 Assignment #1

4 TODAY S TOP NEWS STORY A Mammoth Birthday, 2017 While on a trip to the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre in Alaska during 2005, Christine Rundblad found herself in a sort of sanctuary. The Centre hosts a very impressive collection of everything related to the Ice Age (p.59) period. This was a natural stop for someone with an interest in paleontology (p.59) and stories. In the main hall she was all of a sudden face to tusk with a huge wooly mammoth (p.59) skeleton. It was so big! Little did she know that the story of this particular mammoth would be forever linked with her efforts, as well as the history of Wisconsin, and with the timeline of human occupation in North America. Chris was a born storyteller, having been both an English teacher and a librarian. In an effort to get the family business off the ground, she left her position as a librarian to help out in the office. Once the business picked up, and she wasn t needed as much, she was able to step away and pursue her interest in paleontology at the Milwaukee Public Museum. She haunted the Geology department, soaking up all the information that she could from conversations with the curators, and through classes she was taking at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She eventually became a guide at the Milwaukee Public Museum. On a volunteer basis, she was involved with interpreting exhibits about geology and paleontology for the public. Although not necessarily in the same way as at the library, Chris was storytelling again. So when she got to the Centre she was amazed by this find. There she was staring up at the megafauna (p.59) before her. Naturally filled with curiosity and a need to learn the details of this creature; she read the label about the display. Scanning the information she learned that this was the cast, or life size copy, of one of the largest mammoth skeletons ever found. The information stated that these animals were as large as modernday Asian Elephants, weighing more than three tons, and are often the subject of many stories told by native cultures in the Yukon. Chris was inspired. Where could this mammoth have come from? She was about to get the surprise that would change the course of this mammoth s history as well as her own: The reproduction featured here is based on a complete skeleton found on the Hebior farm in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenosha, Wisconsin?! In 1993, upon the realization that there were archaeologists (p.57) excavating Frank Shaefer s farm, John Hebior, Schaefer s childhood friend and neighbor, asked if they wouldn t mind taking a look at a bone that his son found on his property in It was a mammoth bone! A team went to work across the road at the Hebior farm and uncovered 85% of a male woolly mammoth, similar to the bones discovered at the Schaefer farm. The bones displayed the same great preservation as those from the Schaefer site. What appeared to be stone tools were also uncovered at the site. Sharp eyes at both the Hebior and the Schaefer site also spotted what looked like small cut marks on some of the bones. Evidence of human butchering of mammoth carcasses had already been found at other sites in the United States, but it was very rare. Could the Schaefer and Hebior farms be 4 A Mammoth Expedition 2017 Assignment #1

5 ancient Paleo-Indian butcher sites from the Pleistocene (p.59)? The cut marks and stone tools were worth further Studying. Using a Scanning Electron Microscope, an expert in bone mark morphology from Texas Tech University confirmed that the tiny gouges were in fact butcher marks. The stone tools were sent to a lithics (p.59), (stone tool) expert at the Ohio State University. Using the same technology, researchers confirmed that the stone had been fashioned into a tool by humans. The edges of some of the tools also had microscopic evidence of meat polish. This meant these tools had been used to cut meat! The report showed the bones at both sites were approximately 14,500 years old! Almost 2,000 years older than when humans were thought to have set foot in North America! Once the human tools were found, it became an archeology story. So what does this have to do with Chris? During an Milwaukee Public Museum staff meeting in 2006, Dan Finley, the president at the time, expressed interest in acquiring an exhibit to greet the guests in the lobby. One of the possibilities was a mammoth cast from Kenosha County, but in order to do so they would need a very large donation from a very generous donor. Rather than donating the find to an institution like Frank Shaefer had done, John Hebior chose to sell the Mammoth to the highest bidder, something that he had attempted once before in Chris was at the meeting and thought that it would be a wonderful opportunity for the museum. She went home later that day and announced to her husband: I know what I want for my birthday. Chris and her husband John gathered the funds together, and gave money to the museum to purchase the mammoth. It wasn t until the two of them, along with Anthropology curator Carter Lupton and Dan Finley, went to see the bones on Mr. Hebior s property that she realized it was the same mammoth she saw in Beringia. In July 2007 it was announced that the Hebior Mammoth would become part of the collections of the Milwaukee Public Museum. When we hear of great archaeological discoveries, the mind races and fills with questions: How was this discovered? Where was it discovered? How old is it? What does this mean to my world? Rarely are we allowed the opportunity to be a part of history. But countless finds are sometimes the result of active citizen scientists such as Chris and her husband understanding the importance of a find and making sure that the information is shared with the rest of the world. Sometimes the CS takes the form of an enthusiastic individual that doesn t necessarily do the finding, but aids in the storytelling of the pieces. A cast of the Hebior (one of six in the nation) stands in the lobby of the Milwaukee Public Museum, while the bones lay safely tucked away in storage. Because of Chris, this specimen might inspire another great citizen scientist to work hard to share the next great story of human history. Will it be you? updated 1/ A Mammoth Expedition 2017 Assignment #1

The Woolly Mammoth. Edward I. Maxwell

The Woolly Mammoth. Edward I. Maxwell The Wooly Mammoth The Woolly Mammoth Edward I. Maxwell The closest relative of the woolly mammoth is the Asian elephant. The main differencebetweenthetwoisthatthemammothhadanincrediblecoatofouter ruffhairwithinnercurlywool.thelastknowngroupofmammothsdiedoff,or