Coaches Training
2015
Image Credit: Dana Berry, National Geographic

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Geological_time_spiral.png

Here is some advice on how to prepare your students for this event.
Show them a path to follow. Try to get them to do a little bit each week.
Get them to commit to dedicating 2, maybe 3 days a week to spend a ½ hour or so on creating the binder.
Give them weekly assignments to complete.
They will respond to a guideline.
They will need to see for themselves if they will be ready when the competition arrives.
You need to keep a record of their progress to keep them on track.
I had a big binder with all the events I coached.
I had the evidence to show them if they were falling behind.
I could get them to commit to getting to the next portion of the event
I knew where each team was and who needed motivation.

Separate the responsibility for gathering the information amongst the team members.
If you can, get them to meet after school hours at someone’s home.
Set up 2 minute practice drills, so they have an idea of what it’s like to move in a station orientated event.

MAKE A BINDER
Instead of using a field guide!
Have a copy of the Fossils list in it.
Separate the binder into sections with tabs -
Have them make it easy to find the section they need, to quickly identify the specimen.
A binder is easier to find information than the field guide.
If your students prefer the guide, tab your field guide as well.
It is harder to find information in the guide without doing so.

Recommended Resources:
All reference and training resources including: the Smithsonian Fossil Handbook, the Audubon Society Fossil Field Guide, and the Fossils CD

http://soinc.org/
The home page for the Science Olympiad
You can find information on all events, not just Fossils.
http://soinc.org/fossils_b ( B or C )
Here you will find the 2015 Fossils list and a link to Ward’s Science to purchase fossil kits http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
The best place for information on all B & C events.
For Fossils, scroll down and click on the blue Fossils link in either the B or C column.
This is a good outline to begin gathering information on the Fossils event.
http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/2015_Test_Exchange#Fossils sample tests http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Fossil_List
Will give information on invertebrates

http://petrifiedwoodmuseum.org/Index.htm
A great site, though not listed.
Plenty of information specific to many aspects of the Fossils event, though it’s old, the list is not up to date for 2015.
The Smithsonian Fossil Handbook and the Fossil CD are available on the Official Science Olympiad Store or Website at http://www.soinc.org
The Audubon Society Fossil Field Guide has information that can be included in the binder.

Teams will demonstrate their knowledge of ancient life by completing selected tasks at a series of stations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_(biology)
Six Kingdoms - Taxonomic hierarchy
It is good to be familiar with all as listed on this site, any questions I will use will be based on the more modern model of 6 kingdoms
You will need to know the complete taxonomic hierarch for all plants and animals on the list.
Will apply to both plant and animal.
examples: marine ( coastal-open ocean ), tidal, fresh water, terrestrial, swamp/marsh, desert, deciduous, etc.
You should know the climate and their individual habitat at the time and place of their existence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_relationship
Competition: Two or more organisms vying for the same food source or energy source.
Competition can be inter-specific (between individuals of different species) or intra-specific (between individuals of the same species).
Predation : One organism (the predator) kills and consumes another (the prey) for food (energy).
Parasitism: One organism (the parasite) takes food (energy) from another (the host) without killing it.
Mutualism: A relationship involving two organisms in which both organisms benefit.
Commensalism: An ecological relationship between two organisms in which one benefits and the other is not affected .
Is it a producer / consumer
How did it affect the environment around it?
How did the environment affect it?

Examples: what was its means of locomotion - bi-ped / quadra-ped how did it swim was it a predator - did it hunt in packs or alone was it a carnivore or scavenger.
for sea animals, was it a filter feeder, suspension feeder, etc.
was it sessile or vagrant ?
*see mode of life was it prey - a herd animal - how did it feed, - grasses or trees, etc. did it live in small family groups ?
did it nest?
What were it’s means of capturing prey or eluding predation?
Did it have other defense mechanisms?
You will have to know this for all animals on the list

( applies to both land and sea, animal or plant )
Examples:
Was it in general:
Big or small bodied
Short or long arms or necks or such as a mammoth’s tusks used to shove aside snow
Was it a tall plant with broad leaves or did it have whorls?
This link can provide general information on wide variety of the Fossils event.
You can navigate through to find examples of Mesozoic life, adaptations, climate and diversity.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Dinosaur
GOOGLE Faunal Succession to find information
This link can help with other parts of the event as well.
http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/Earth&Space/GPS/fossils.html

Each team may bring only one magnifying glass, one published field guide that they may tab and write in, and one 3-ring binder (any size) containing information in any form from any source.
The materials must be punched and inserted into the rings
(sheet protectors are allowed).
Emphasis will be placed upon task-oriented activities.
Participants will move from station to station, with the length of time at each station predetermined and announced by the event supervisor.
Participants may not return to stations, but may change or add information to their original responses while at other stations.
Identification will be limited to species on the Official Fossil List, but other species may be used to illustrate key concepts.

Questions will be chosen from the following topics: a. Identification of all fossil specimens on the official Fossil List posted at http://www.soinc.org
b. Conditions required for a plant or an animal to become fossilized.
This site can help with many other items in the fossils event http://www.fossilmuseum.net/index.htm
c. Common modes of preservation: permineralization, petrifaction/petrification/silicification, mineral replacement, cast/mold, imprint, actual remains. http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/chaps/chapter06-01.html
http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

encasement in amber/copal, mummification, freezing, entrapment in tar/asphalt.
http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

law of superposition, original horizontality, cross cutting relationships,
GOOGLE Niels Steno http://www.uvm.edu/perkins/evolution/qanda/?Page=time/relative.html&SM=time/timemenu.html
click on the pictures to enlarge them unconformities (buried erosion surfaces).
GOOGLE James Hutton
This site will give information on other areas of dating and correlation as well http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.kean.edu/~csmart/Observing/Lectures/Lecture%252008
%2520Geologic%2520Time%2520r.ppt&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=zSw5VO_NHZOcyg
TI2YHwCg&ved=0CCYQFjAD&usg=AFQjCNEAx1xB2pwrdpgGfyuJfkaxonpJKg

http://www.geo.utep.edu/pub/avila/web/ch03.ppt
radiometric dating half-life, carbon dating,
You should have a sheet with basic terms volcanic ash layers.
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evosite/evo101/IIE1aAtomicclocks.shtml
This site has good information on many aspects of the fossils event http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/Earth&Space/GPS/fossils.html

Google geologic time scale - there are many sites to Google.
You should have a scale or chart with - Eons, Eras, Periods, and Epochs http://www.fossilmuseum.net/GeologicalHistory.htm
http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/chaps/chapter03-
01.html
http://www.geosociety.org/science/timescale/timescl.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Geologic_time_scale
You should know the Ediacaran period and why it is important.
You should know the major extinctions, not only when, but what may have caused them .
You should know the different ages of life.

http://www.phsteamstrength.com/resources/FossilsGeoTime.ppt
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/fossils.html
You must know the 3 conditions an index fossil must meet to be considered as such.
You should have a range chart of index fossils.
* see range charts later in the document

chert, coquina, diatomite, diatomite rock, limestone: chalk & fossiliferous limestone, mudstone, sandstone, shale, siltstone.
http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Fossils#Sedimentary_Rocks
You should be able to identify the sedimentary rocks in which fossils may be found.
You should know the general types of fossils that can be found in each listed rock.
You should know the basic formation of the rocks.
Example:
Chert is formed when the siliceous skeletons of marine plankton are dissolved, with silica being precipitated from the resulting solution .

filter feeder, predator, scavenger, deposit feeder, benthic, pelagic, http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Fossils#Modes_of_life
You will need to know the mode of life for all animals on the list
Organisms that die in areas of frequent or high sediment accumulation are much more likely to fossilize than those that die in areas of erosion or low sedimentation accumulation.
Marine continental shelf environments are commonly preserved in sedimentary strata.
Terrestrial uplands are very rarely preserved.
What environments were any given fossil likely to have occurred.

skeletons, shells, etc:
(calcite, aragonite, silica, chitin) http://scioly.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page http://facstaff.gpc.edu/~pgore/Earth&Space/GP
S/fossils.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomineralization
You will need to know this for all
Arthropods, Brachiopods, Mollusca and in general, all skeletal animals

You should make a spreadsheet or chart showing the taxonomy for all plants and animals on the list
You will need to know for all plants and animals on the list
Here is a good site http://taxonomicon.taxonomy.nl/Default.aspx
Delaware - DIVISION C ONLY - for 2015
You will be asked to give the taxonomic hierarchy of animals or plants chosen at random.

EXAMPLE: Triceratops
When you search this site, you will see all of this EXTRA information.
REMEMBER, you only need kingdom, phylum, class, order, family & genus
Natura - nature
Mundus Plinius - physical world
Naturalia - natural bodies
Biota
Domain Eukaryota Chatton, 1925 - eukaryotes
Reptilia
Eureptilia Olson, 1947
Romeriida
Diapsida Osborn, 1903
Unikonta
Opisthokonta Cavalier-Smith, 1987
Eosuchia Broom, 1914
Neodiapsida Gauthier, 1984
Holozoa
Kingdom Animalia C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
Sauria Macartney, 1802
Archosauromorpha von Huene, 1946
Epitheliozoa Ax, 1996
Archosauria Cope, 1869
Eumetazoa Bütschli, 1910 - eumetazoans
Bilateria Hatschek, 1888 - bilaterians
Avesuchia
Avemetatarsalia Benton, 1999
Eubilateria Ax, 1987
Superphylum Deuterostomia Grobben, 1908 - deuterostomes
Phylum Chordata Bateson, 1885 - chordates
Ornithodira
Dinosauromorpha
Subphylum Vertebrata Cuvier, 1812 - vertebrates
Myopterygii - myopterygians
Superclass Gnathostomata Zittel, 1879 - jawed vertebrates
Grade Teleostomi C.L. Bonaparte, 1836
Euteleostomi - bony vertebrates
Sarcopterygii (Romer, 1955)
Rhipidistia Cope, 1887
Tetrapodomorpha Ahlberg, 1991
Osteolepidimorpha
Superclass Tetrapoda Goodrich, 1930 - tetrapods
Reptiliomorpha Säve-Söderbergh, 1934
Batrachosauria
Amniota Haeckel, 1866 - amniotes
Dinosauriformes
Dinosauria Owen, 1842b NOTE: the clade for dinosaurs is the class
Order †Ornithischia Seeley, 1888
†Genasauria (P. Sereno, 1986)
Suborder †Cerapoda (P. Sereno, 1986)
†Marginocephalia (P. Sereno, 1986)
Infraorder †Ceratopsia
†Neoceratopsia (P. Sereno, 1986)
Family †Ceratopsidae Marsh, 1888
Subfamily †Chasmosaurinae
Genus †Triceratops Marsh, 1889
†Triceratops maximus B. Brown, 1933
†Triceratops prorsus Marsh, 1889

EXAMPLE: Elrathia
REMEMBER, you only need kingdom, phylum, class, order, family
& genus
Natura - nature
Mundus Plinius - physical world
Naturalia - natural bodies
Biota
Domain Eukaryota Chatton, 1925 - eukaryotes
Unikonta
Opisthokonta Cavalier-Smith, 1987
Holozoa
Kingdom Animalia C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
Epitheliozoa Ax, 1996
Eumetazoa Bütschli, 1910 - eumetazoans
Bilateria Hatschek, 1888 - bilaterians
Eubilateria Ax, 1987
Protostomia Grobben, 1908
Ecdysozoa A.M.A. Aguinaldo et al., 1997 - ecdysozoans
Superphylum Panarthropoda
Phylum Arthropoda Latreille, 1829 - arthropods
Euarthropoda
Subphylum Arachnomorpha Heider, 1913
[Infraphylum †Trilobita - trilobites] see Subclass Trilobita
Walch, 1771
[Class †Trilobita Walch, 1771 - trilobites] see Subclass
Trilobita Walch, 1771
Order †Ptychopariida Swinnerton, 1915
Suborder †Ptychopariina ᵀ
Genus †Elrathia Walcott, 1924
†Elrathia kingi

EXAMPLE: Ginkgo
Natura - nature
Mundus Plinius - physical world
Naturalia - natural bodies
Biota
Domain Eukaryota Chatton, 1925 - eukaryotes
Bikonta
REMEMBER, you only need kingdom, phylum, class,
"photokaryotes"
Kingdom Plantae Haeckel, 1866 - plants
Viridiplantae Cavalier-Smith, 1981 - green plants
Streptophyta
Embryophyta Endlicher, 1836 order, family
& genus
"polysporangiophytes"
Phylum Tracheophyta Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - vascular plants
Subphylum Euphyllophytina
Infraphylum "Radiatopses" Kenrick & Crane, 1997
"lignophytes"
Class Spermatopsida
"core seed plants"
Subclass Ginkgoidae Engl., in H.G.A. Engler & K.A.E. Prantl, 1897
Order Ginkgoales ᵀ Gorozh., 1904
Family Ginkgoaceae ᵀ Engler, in H.G.A. Engler & K.A.E. Prantl, 1897, nom. cons. - maidenhair tree family
Genus Ginkgo ᵀ C. Linnaeus, 1771
Ginkgo biloba ᵀ C. Linnaeus, 1771 - common ginkgo

You need to have a basic understanding of these for all plants and animals on the list
Adaptations are characteristics of a plant or animal that help it to survive.
examples: In general, you should know -
In animals, adaptations can be:
Structural - how the body is formed or shaped. Large or small bodies.
Fins and legs are two different structural adaptations.
Physiological - how the body works.
Cold-blooded and warm-blooded are physiological adaptations.
What evidence is there that dinosaurs were warm blooded?
Behavioral - what the animal does, such as hibernating in the winter.
In plants, adaptations can be: vascular systems or how it reproduced, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_plant_evolution

Morphologic features , examples: http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo3xx/geo308/FoldersOnServer/2005%20MiscLabStuff/Lab%2
01%20-major%20fossil%20groups.pdf
flight between birds and bats are different ( convergent or divergent? )
Trilobites - 3 lobed bodies - compound eyes - jointed legs, etc.
The shape of the shells of Brachiopods and Mollusca, etc.

n. Important paleontological events and discoveries and their significance
(e.g., Burgess Shale, Permian Extinction, feathered dinosaurs from China)
Understand what a Lagerstätten is examples: the Burgess Shale,
Solnhofen,
Green River Formation,
La Brea Tar Pits,
Wheeler Shale,
Yixian Formation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lagerst%C3%A4tten
Specifically, why the Permian extinction.
You should also have a chart with all of the major extinctions including a brief summary of each.
Feathered dinosaurs from China, not only as a Lagerstätten, but what is the significance of the feathers.

4. REPRESENTATIVE STATION TASKS:
Possible questions, tasks, stations and/or examples: a. Identify each fossil and record its mode of preservation.
permineralization, petrifaction/petrification/silicification, mineral replacement, cast/mold, etc.

b. Identify each of the fossils and list them in order from oldest to most recent.
You must know the stratigraphic range of each plant and animal on the list
The Smithsonian Fossil Handbook will serve as the primary authority on stratigraphic ranges of listed specimens, with the Audubon Society Fossil Field Guide as the secondary authority.

c. Identify each
fossil and record the geologic period(s) in its stratigraphic range.
You must know the common index fossils and what period they are used to identify.
Example of a spreadsheet you can make
You should have this as a separate chart in your binder

d. Based on the fossil and rock associations, determine the environment in which the organism lived.
Was it, marine, fresh water - terrestrial, forest or desert.
Is the rock formed in a high or low energy environment e. Construct a range chart and determine the age of the fossil assemblage.
You will need this for each plant and animal on the list.
A simple spreadsheet will be the best.
Tab a separate area in the binder example:

f. Identify the Genus of a sample trilobite and the type of rock in which the creature is embedded.
g. Identify each dinosaur by name, record each specimen's order and the geologic periods in its stratigraphic range.
Example of a spreadsheet you can make

Points will be awarded for the quality and accuracy of responses.
Ties will be broken by the accuracy and/or quality of responses to several pre-identified questions.
Recommended Resources:
All reference and training resources including the Smithsonian Fossil Handbook and the Fossil CD are available on the Official Science Olympiad Store or Website at http://www.soinc.org
The Smithsonian Fossil Handbook will serve as the primary authority on stratigraphic ranges of listed specimens, with the Audubon Society Fossil Field Guide as the secondary authority.

 Create “cover sheets” with tabs with names and maybe thumbnail images of each specimen
Front – types of fossilization, invertebrates.
Middleish – vertebrates and plants
Middle- dating, rocks, events, index fossils
Rearish- range charts, time scales, mass extinctions,
Rear- glossary, misc. info the students would want included
 “Speed is the key!”
Design it for rapid specimen identification to permit maximum time to locate the requested information.
 Devote one page to each specimen.
Standardize your format for quick and easy identification.

For the State of Delaware, you will need to know:
The geology and fossils of the C. and D. Canal
The Philadelphia connection to Tiktaalik

The Student training seminar will be at :
The Delaware Museum of Natural History
4840 Kennett Pike
Wilmington, DE. 19807
Saturday – January 31 st
9:am to 11:am and 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Sunday February 1 st
Noon to 2:pm and 2:30 pm to 4:30pm.
PLEASE BE PROMPT!
You can visit the museum before and after each seminar
Coaches only:
Please give me as much notice as possible as to:
Your name, school and contact information the number attending
The day and time
Thank you very much
Also: Dino Days at the museum – Dec. 27 th & 28 th
I can be reached at genepulcher@verizon.net