6th International Conference on
“Mammoths and their Relatives”
Σιάτιστα-Γρεβενά-Πτολεμαΐδα
Σιάτιστα, 5 Μαϊου,2014
Εκθεσιακό Κέντρο
Opening Ceremony-Εναρκτήρια Συνεδρίαση
Λόγος της Περιφερειακής Διευθύντριας Α/θμιας & Β/θμιας
Εκπαίδευσης Δυτικής Μακεδονίας, Δρ Βασιλικής Βόντσα
Παλαιοντολογία και Εκπαίδευση:
Tα παλαιοντολογικά επιστημονικά ευρήματα
ως υλικό εμπλουτισμού της εκπαιδευτικής διαδικασίας
διδασκαλίας και μάθησης.
On behalf of our educational authorities and as a Regional
Director of Primary and Secondary Education of Western
Macedonia, I would like to welcome you to the 6th
International Conference on Mammoths and their Relatives,
which promotes recent advances in the field of
proboscideans and generally Paleontology. Public interest
to attend this Conference is very high because we expect to
learn important scientific results from research in a variety
of subjects, including biogeography, molecular studies,
research about fossil specimens, biology and ethnology of
extinct and extanct species, evolution and extinction, early
human and proboscidean interaction and the present state
of endangered species.
Therefore, we should address our warmest congratulations
to the organizing committee and everyone else who
volunteered for this Conference, having done such an
outstanding work. A paleontological Conference in our area
is a challenge and an invaluable opportunity for us –the
inhabitants of the area-who continually hear about
discoveries in Western Macedonia such as Mammoths or
fossil specimens. Thus, we want to get scientific information
about those discoveries and their scientific importance. In
addition, having visited the Paleontological Museums of
Ptolemais and Siatista as well as the Fossil Exhibition of
Nostimo and the various private collections of bones of
Mammals and shells in Western Macedonia, we are
persuaded that these collections are very important as
international researchers have access to them and use
them as a tool for the development of science.
Science promotes the cultivation of our spirit and gives us
the opportunity to learn about our ancestors and our past.
Moreover, it raises our cultural awareness and it promotes
our environmental sensitivity. More specifically,
paleontology is the study of the History of life, which is
written in the fossils and geological records .This allows us
to place living organisms in both evolutionary and
geological context. It is of course this contextual
background that allows us to interpret the significance of
characteristics of living organisms and the significance of
biological events occurring today. Paleontology allows
scientists to create a much more complete map of
evolution as fossils are a direct documentation of the
History of life. Therefore, we are able to understand more
about how we evolved, how other organisms evolved, how
life in our planet has changed through time and how it will
continue changing in the future. Paleontology describes the
world’s past biodiversity, outlines the history of life on
earth and as a consequence it develops new ideas and
models about evolution and ecology. All micro-organisms,
plants and animals that have existed since the origin of life
offer us the opportunity to gain knowledge and understand
the evolutionary history of life. The most important thing is
that paleontology uses the knowledge of the past life to
develop new concepts and principles of evolution and
ecology. Topics of how species evolve or become extinct are
interesting and important on their own, but these events
are also crucial to understanding how we need to preserve
and carefully manage our current and future world. Last but
not least, Paleontology is a synthetic science that uses
methodologies developed in each sector of science and
technology. From Mathematics and engineering to hightech applications such as satellite remote sensing, C-T
scanning
technology
and
computer
modeling.
Paleontologists derive important clues that help to decipher
the nature, history and patterns of past life and connect
them to present status.
For all the above reasons, Paleontology should be directly
connected to our school curricula, helping students to
understand the importance of science and how all the
sciences tie together. Paleontology can really and
significantly contribute to science literacy, giving models of
understanding how the world works, how evolution and
ecology are connected, how climate change has affected
past organisms, what biodiversity and the principles of
extinction are. Although the school curricula in Greece
don’t focus on paleontological education, Primary and
Secondary Science educators have rarely taken a university
level paleontology class. There is a high deficit of
paleontological lessons in our school subjects. The
Curriculum doesn’t frequently include a field trip to a
museum, where real fossils can be studied and the pupils
rarely have access to paleontological collections. Teachers
have difficulties in developing a good lesson plan, providing
an application of paleontology to solve modern eco
problems. Therefore, it would be crucial if paleontology
professionals could provide elementary and secondary
teachers with scientific help, knowledge and guidance in
order to prepare relevant projects for their pupils.
The Paleontological Conference we attend today in our city
is a very important opportunity to build a bridge between
scientific knowledge, research, results and educational
aims. All the knowledge gained through scientific work and
its results will be presented to us the next three days and it
should be simplified by teachers in order to be easily
understood by students of all ages. Teachers can help their
pupils to become aware of all these important findings and
motivate them to desire more thorough preoccupation with
the biodiversity and its evolution on earth. Furthermore,
teachers should attempt to bring their students into direct
contact with the findings of paleontologists about the
history of species, the earth’s natural change and the
impact of life on the natural environment.
When we leave this Conference each of us should attempt
to spread all the specific knowledge and raise the curiosity
to learn more about the history of life on earth.
Paleontology can provide us with an understanding of the
depth of history for millions of years. For this reason I
would like to congratulate once again all the members of
the organizing committee on this extremely useful
Conference in Western Macedonia. I must also underline
that another connection between science and education
will be build these days, as the results of paleontological
research will be presented and educators will be able to
acquire significant information about their school projects.
According to that, students will have the opportunity to
work on new, interesting topics about history of life on
earth and its traces in our area. These topics on species
evolution and extinction are also significant in
understanding the necessity of a long term management of
our natural world.
Σιάτιστα, 5 Μαΐου, 2014
Δρ Βασιλική Βόντσα
Περιφερειακή Διευθύντρια
Εκπαίδευσης
Δυτικής Μακεδονίας