Hello, Isabella! Congratulations on your presentation! Congratulations also for having done it in a dynamic video format. It’s really cool to see you so young developing a work to promote paleontology. I thought it was amazing that, based on your observations in the classroom, this topic began to take hold in your mind.
I agree that paleontology is an incredible field, but it often ends up being limited to the four walls of universities. The confusion with archaeology is classic. And although dinosaurs are fascinating creatures for the general public, other groups of organisms that are equally fascinating often end up being forgotten.
In this sense, congratulations for breaking the “dinosaur rule” and choosing a group of invertebrates for your study. Trilobites were truly iconic characters from the Paleozoic seas of our planet.
Despite being an extinct group, how was the initial reception of the target audience to the universe of trilobites? Do you think laypeople were disappointed that they weren’t dinosaurs, or did the trilobites capture their attention right away? In addition to the virtual reconstructions, were you also able to use physical 3D replicas to help illustrate the trilobites to the public?
What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to continue working in the world of paleontology?
Hello, Maltom! Thank you very much for your comment! That’s a great question, especially considering that dinosaurs have been the “face” of paleontology for years.
In my experience while presenting this research at science fairs I’ve attended, I’ve noticed that the “new” and “unknown” name of the trilobite, combined with its relatively familiar body, really caught people’s attention, especially when they were given some interesting facts about them, such as:
“Did you know they’re older than dinosaurs?” or “These animals have existed on Earth for almost 300 million years!!! Can you imagine that?” or even “More than 25,000 species of this animal have been discovered.” The use of the nickname “prehistoric cockroach” also got some laughs from the younger audience.
Although I am left to believe that part of the amusement of the spectators came from the way things were worded to them. During my presentation, I tried to refrain from using “complicated words”, or at least without explaining what they meant, and also used informality to my advantage during the presentations by cracking jokes or assimilating the contents with everyday things. Anything can be interesting to people when you’re able to phrase it the right way.
Regarding the 3D replicas, they were absolutely used during the presentations!!! And i’d highly recommend them for people who want to do something similar! Even though I had some real fossils on display, using the replicas was essential for the tactile part of the experience, and I believe that “touching the fossil” was one of the most important parts of the presentation, as it gave a feeling/notion of the truth behind it all.
Handling them allowed people to experience trilobites (and, consequently, paleontology) in the same way they experienced common everyday things, and not as something that is behind glass in a museum. Personally, I think this is a fast way to take paleontology out of the academic world and bring it to the general public.
As for my plans for the future, yes, I do plan to continue in the paleontology field, but I would like to work in the communication/scientific dissemination side of it. My wish is to teach people of all ages and educational paths about the wonders of science (paleontology in specific) and show them how those areas are a lot more accessible and closer to their reality than they might realize!
Once again, Thank you so much for the questions. Best regards,
Isabella
First and foremost, congratulations on your work. I can see that you conducted thorough research and delved deeply into the topic, and your presentation is excellent. You speak clearly and concisely, and I imagine your communication with the audience was also great. My congratulations.
Trilobites are indeed fascinating creatures; I’ve always liked them and find them cute. I also appreciate the idea of exploring a group different from dinosaurs. We have various fantastic organisms that the general public is unaware of, and I think it’s wonderful to bring this to their attention.
I would like to know more details about how you addressed the topics of biostratigraphy and radiometric dating in conjunction with trilobites for the public, and how they understood the subject.
Once again, congratulations on your work, and I hope you continue working in paleontology.
Hi Jennyfer, thank you so much for the kind comment! That’s a really great question, and it took me quite a while to understand a way to explain this topic in a way that ‘s both engaging and easy to understand.
When I was explaining about radiometric dating, my focus was on making the audience aware that there’s more to this kind of dating than just Carbon 14, given that most misinformations about radioactive dating stem from the fact that a good chunk of the audience believes that the entirety of that dating type can be boiled down to Carbon14 and Carbon14 alone. So to break that misconception I explained how fossils from different eras would use different elements to be dated, not just carbon 14. Then I would give the example of what element would be needed to date a trilobite compared to a more modern arthropod, comparing the dating capacity of Carbon 14 and Potassium 40, but without going too deep, as it is an introductory presentation on the subject.
When it came to Biostratigraphy, I used older orders and suborders of trilobites compared to more recent ones, so I had a chart comparing the morphology of some trilobites (mainly Redlichiids from the Cambrian and Proetids from the Permian) and used it to explain that different animals (trilobites in this case) could indicate different ages in the rocks, that when a species or group of animals is studied enough for us to be sure that they belong to a specific period, they become a temporal mark for a specific time frame in the rocks of that period, so finding them in a place would mean seeing a layer from a specific period x.
In general, the audience seems to have understood it well, but again, the content is explained and planned to be introductory, so I left these more “complicated” themes with a slightly shallower explanation.
Thank you very much for the question, best regards
Isabella
Hello Isabella!
I was very happy to see the progress of your work!
Congratulations on your presentation!
I hope you continue working in the field of paleontology, with this idea of spreading paleontological knowledge!
Best regards!
Esta es una tienda de demostración para realizar pruebas — no se completará ningún pedido.
Comments:
6 thoughts on “CAN TRILOBITES HELP NON SPECIALIZED AUDIENCES UNDERSTAND CONCEPTS OF GENERAL PALEONTOLOGY?”
Hello, Isabella! Congratulations on your presentation! Congratulations also for having done it in a dynamic video format. It’s really cool to see you so young developing a work to promote paleontology. I thought it was amazing that, based on your observations in the classroom, this topic began to take hold in your mind.
I agree that paleontology is an incredible field, but it often ends up being limited to the four walls of universities. The confusion with archaeology is classic. And although dinosaurs are fascinating creatures for the general public, other groups of organisms that are equally fascinating often end up being forgotten.
In this sense, congratulations for breaking the “dinosaur rule” and choosing a group of invertebrates for your study. Trilobites were truly iconic characters from the Paleozoic seas of our planet.
Despite being an extinct group, how was the initial reception of the target audience to the universe of trilobites? Do you think laypeople were disappointed that they weren’t dinosaurs, or did the trilobites capture their attention right away? In addition to the virtual reconstructions, were you also able to use physical 3D replicas to help illustrate the trilobites to the public?
What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to continue working in the world of paleontology?
Best regards,
—
Malton
Hello, Maltom! Thank you very much for your comment! That’s a great question, especially considering that dinosaurs have been the “face” of paleontology for years.
In my experience while presenting this research at science fairs I’ve attended, I’ve noticed that the “new” and “unknown” name of the trilobite, combined with its relatively familiar body, really caught people’s attention, especially when they were given some interesting facts about them, such as:
“Did you know they’re older than dinosaurs?” or “These animals have existed on Earth for almost 300 million years!!! Can you imagine that?” or even “More than 25,000 species of this animal have been discovered.” The use of the nickname “prehistoric cockroach” also got some laughs from the younger audience.
Although I am left to believe that part of the amusement of the spectators came from the way things were worded to them. During my presentation, I tried to refrain from using “complicated words”, or at least without explaining what they meant, and also used informality to my advantage during the presentations by cracking jokes or assimilating the contents with everyday things. Anything can be interesting to people when you’re able to phrase it the right way.
Regarding the 3D replicas, they were absolutely used during the presentations!!! And i’d highly recommend them for people who want to do something similar! Even though I had some real fossils on display, using the replicas was essential for the tactile part of the experience, and I believe that “touching the fossil” was one of the most important parts of the presentation, as it gave a feeling/notion of the truth behind it all.
Handling them allowed people to experience trilobites (and, consequently, paleontology) in the same way they experienced common everyday things, and not as something that is behind glass in a museum. Personally, I think this is a fast way to take paleontology out of the academic world and bring it to the general public.
As for my plans for the future, yes, I do plan to continue in the paleontology field, but I would like to work in the communication/scientific dissemination side of it. My wish is to teach people of all ages and educational paths about the wonders of science (paleontology in specific) and show them how those areas are a lot more accessible and closer to their reality than they might realize!
Once again, Thank you so much for the questions. Best regards,
Isabella
Hi, Isabella!
Thank you very much for sharing more details about your project!
It’s great to know that you’re interested in pursuing paleontology and scientific dissemination. Good luck!
Best regards,
—
Malton
Hello Isabella,
First and foremost, congratulations on your work. I can see that you conducted thorough research and delved deeply into the topic, and your presentation is excellent. You speak clearly and concisely, and I imagine your communication with the audience was also great. My congratulations.
Trilobites are indeed fascinating creatures; I’ve always liked them and find them cute. I also appreciate the idea of exploring a group different from dinosaurs. We have various fantastic organisms that the general public is unaware of, and I think it’s wonderful to bring this to their attention.
I would like to know more details about how you addressed the topics of biostratigraphy and radiometric dating in conjunction with trilobites for the public, and how they understood the subject.
Once again, congratulations on your work, and I hope you continue working in paleontology.
Best regards,
Hi Jennyfer, thank you so much for the kind comment! That’s a really great question, and it took me quite a while to understand a way to explain this topic in a way that ‘s both engaging and easy to understand.
When I was explaining about radiometric dating, my focus was on making the audience aware that there’s more to this kind of dating than just Carbon 14, given that most misinformations about radioactive dating stem from the fact that a good chunk of the audience believes that the entirety of that dating type can be boiled down to Carbon14 and Carbon14 alone. So to break that misconception I explained how fossils from different eras would use different elements to be dated, not just carbon 14. Then I would give the example of what element would be needed to date a trilobite compared to a more modern arthropod, comparing the dating capacity of Carbon 14 and Potassium 40, but without going too deep, as it is an introductory presentation on the subject.
When it came to Biostratigraphy, I used older orders and suborders of trilobites compared to more recent ones, so I had a chart comparing the morphology of some trilobites (mainly Redlichiids from the Cambrian and Proetids from the Permian) and used it to explain that different animals (trilobites in this case) could indicate different ages in the rocks, that when a species or group of animals is studied enough for us to be sure that they belong to a specific period, they become a temporal mark for a specific time frame in the rocks of that period, so finding them in a place would mean seeing a layer from a specific period x.
In general, the audience seems to have understood it well, but again, the content is explained and planned to be introductory, so I left these more “complicated” themes with a slightly shallower explanation.
Thank you very much for the question, best regards
Isabella
Hello Isabella!
I was very happy to see the progress of your work!
Congratulations on your presentation!
I hope you continue working in the field of paleontology, with this idea of spreading paleontological knowledge!
Best regards!