Ancient clues, young minds

NORWALK — Fourth graders in Marissa Dellisanti's class at Main Street School had a hands-on lesson about bones and fossils last week, getting the opportunity to dig and categorize real fossils in their classroom. The idea for the project began when Dellisanti wanted to take the routine study of fossils out of the book and into the classroom. "We were starting to learn about the different types of fossils," the teacher said. "I wanted to get the kids exposed to cast fossils, mold fossils and trace fossils," she said. There were different stations set up. "One station focused on animal bones, and the others had ocean fossils mixed into sediment, the way paleontologists actually find them," Dellisanti said. According to Dellisanti, the activity mimicked what paleontologists do on a daily basis at work. "They had to pull the fossils out, use a hand lens and compare what they found to a guide," she said. "They were looking at things like shark teeth, fish vertebrae, coral and petrified wood." She also mentioned the ancillary learning students were exposed to during the project. "The goal was to give them firsthand experience instead of just reading about it," she said. "It allows them to infer for themselves and talk with classmates about what they think something might be." With the project being popular among students, she plans to begin a tradition in her classroom. "I haven't done this project before," Dellisanti said, "but I definitely plan to do it again next year."