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Layers of learning

| January 9, 2020 12:00 AM

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Seventh grade student Fiona Michael uses a microscope to see ancient fossils embedded in a rock during class Wednesday at Woodland Middle School. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)

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Woodland Middle School students discovered history in ancient rocks like this one that has ancient leaves and stems embedded in the rock. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)

By DEVIN WEEKS

Staff Writer

COEUR d’ALENE — Taps, clinks and clangs thundered throughout Karina Selby and Bobby Bunch's classes Wednesday afternoon at Woodland Middle School.

Who knew seventh-graders would have so much fun hammering rocks?

But those weren't just any rocks — they were chunks of sedimentary shale from the Eocene period, pieces of ancient history from about 49.5 million years ago with secrets hidden within.

"We found a pine needle," said a smiling Kaeli Porto, who worked in a group with classmates Luci Clark and Mykinzie Cummings.

"We were thinking that it might be something else, and then Ms. Selby came over and explained to us that it was probably a pine needle, and said that we were the first humans to ever see it," Luci said. "That definitely made the pine needle more interesting."

The students used chisels and hammers to tap along the sediment layers of these pieces of shale to uncover fossils of life that once thrived in Republic, Wash., at the Stonerose Interpretive Center and Eocene Fossil Site quarry.

“We’re looking for plant material, we’re looking for insects, an occasional fish or fish part, cones," said Stonerose executive director Katherine Meade.

Meade and her team visited Woodland with the shale samples to give the students hands-on experience working as paleontologists right in their life science classroom.

“This project is really right up my alley and I’m really excited to break open rocks and unearth cool things," said student Eli Scarola, who has always had an interest in dinosaurs and fossils.

"It’s really fascinating to see all these things that people have never seen," he said. "It kind of makes you wonder what else there is underground and all the things you can find under there."

Stonerose operations manager Travis Wellman educated the kids about plate tectonics and the geologic history of North America with a focus on the Northwest. He gave a presentation showing how Idaho and Washington were underwater several million years ago and how life forms have changed through time.

"So you know, the waters were moderately terrifying," he said after showing a rendering of a 6-foot giant sea scorpion that lived hundreds of millions of years ago.

Students' eyes lit up when Wellman told the students about a little girl who visited the Stonerose quarry and cracked open a rock to find an unknown fly specimen that scientists ended up naming after her.

“When I saw that, I got my hopes up and I thought it would be really cool to have your own species named after you," Eli said.

Selby said their students study the fossil record as part of "understanding not just how ancient extinct things are related to each other, but how we can use that same sort of similarity and morphology to see how living things are related to each other.

"We’re just now getting into change over time and being able to refer back to these very ancient, in some cases, prehistoric things."

The educational visit was made possible by a grant Selby received through the Excel Foundation, which provides funds for Coeur d'Alene School District teachers to present innovative and engaging projects for their students. Stonerose will be bringing the shale samples to Lakes Middle School today and Canfield Middle School on Friday so more young scientists can have their own moments of discovery.

"Our goal, especially in seventh grade, they're still kids, but they're starting to have the ability to critically think and reason and analyze things and connect dots,” Selby said. "For us to be able to give them opportunities to get to do that is the best — it keeps them excited."

Info: www.stonerosefossil.org