STFI Fossil Hunters

On Saturday, four Science Teacher Field Institute teachers hit the beach to search through the rock piles for fossils.  We were missing our Montana dinosaur bone hunting adventures and decided to take our new-found love of geology and fossils to a local spot. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the coldest day of the summer, but we mustered on and found a lot of cool things. First, we saw rocks at all different phases in the rock cycle. We found sedimentary rocks with fossils embedded into them.  We found agates that appeared to be igneous rocks with lots of clear quartz in them.  One of the best things we found were pieces of the stems of crinoids. The crinoids were the hardest to find, we had to get close to the sand and sift through many little rocks to find them.

Stephanie and Nancy searching the shoreline for fossils.

There was also evidence of coral as well.  Like all good scientists we had some questions about the site.  First, were these rocks brought here to help build up the beach, or were they washed in by the waves? How old are these fossils? Wikipedia is telling me that Crinoids were around during the mid to late Paleozoic period, but there are also some modern forms.  We discussed our findings and theories at a local coffee shop. Even though it was a little cold and we still are looking for answers to some of our questions, we had a great adventure at the beach!

Teachers discussing their fossil finds.