Museum to-go kits bring Idaho’s ice-age fossils and dino bones to classrooms

POCATELLO (Idaho Ed News) — For some of the world’s best ice age fossils, look no further than the American Falls reservoir bed. Not far from there, “weird and wild” dinosaur bones can be found in a geologically unique part of eastern Idaho. 

Now students have the chance to explore it all from their own classrooms. 

The Idaho Museum of Natural History is launching mini museum to-go kits this fall in an effort to expand its educational reach and celebrate Idaho’s uniqueness.

The museum has done some trial runs with the kits and so far, “they’ve been a big hit,” said Robert Gay, the museum’s education curator. 

“Everyone loves them,” he said. “They’ve allowed kids to see things that the classroom did not have the ability to source or physically reference on their own.”

RELATED | New exhibit showcases local dinosaurs

Because field trips and travel can be expensive and out of reach for some schools, the museum is bringing hands-on learning to students where they are. 

“There’s no alternative, really, to the authentic experience of doing something firsthand, whether that’s seeing something firsthand, touching something firsthand, or making something firsthand,” Gay said. 

The kits have different topics — like the ice age in Idaho, the Hagerman fossil beds and dinosaurs of Idaho. Then they’re packed with related artifacts like 3D prints of dinosaur bones — including the new state dinosaur, the oryctodromeus. 

Each kit, packaged in a rugged tote, comes with standards-aligned lesson plans for grades K-12, designed by Gay, who is a former middle and high school science teacher. 

Gay hopes the kits will foster “a greater appreciation for our shared natural history here in Idaho.”

“We have some amazing things here that I don’t think a lot of Idahoans know about,” he continued.

For example: the buzzsaw shark — a “bizarre creature” that lived in Idaho 270 million years ago. 

“The world expert on these buzzsaw sharks is right here at the Idaho Museum of Natural History,” Gay said. “So we’re able to provide content about this weird, creepy, 40-foot-long shark that used to swim in Idaho back when we were covered by an ocean, which I think is pretty wild.”

RELATED | New shark fossil donated to Idaho Museum of Natural History

RELATED | Idaho No. 5 returns to Idaho Museum of Natural History after being gone over six decades

This fall, there are a handful of kits available for checkout, and more are being added — including one on the state dinosaur, one on geology, and one on the Hagerman horse. The museum will also be working with Idaho’s five federally recognized tribes to create kits “that are centered around their story.” Ultimately, there will be about a dozen kits available, Gay said. 

Teachers will be able to request the kits online in September via the museum website, and get to keep them for two weeks. The kits are free, and shipping is covered by Idaho State University’s College of Education. Learn more about the kits here.

The kits are one of a few initiatives aimed at bringing the museum to schools. Teachers can also request guest speakers from the museum, and next summer, a mobile museum van decked out with paleontology displays and exhibits will begin traveling the state. 

RELATED | Dinosaur bones found in Bonneville County belong to T-Rex relative

“What we’re really pushing is we want our Idaho students to understand natural history at the highest level possible,” Gay said. “The only way to do that is by creating authentic experiences, and that means hands-on.”

Originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org on August 16, 2024