TRiO Math/Science Upward Bound

We began the summer of 2001 with some team-building exercises and training on map, compass, and GPS use in preparation for our field work. We departed on the third day for a two-week paleontology expedition to the Fort Peck, Montana vicinity.   We hired a widely respected paleontologist, Ralph Nichols, to work with us. He is associated with the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. Pat Leiggi and Ralph gave us a great introduction to paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies. Nate Murphy gave us a wonderful tour at the Phillips County Museum. During our stay in the Fort Peck area, we camped below the Fort Peck Dam. We rented a former café for classrooms, cooking and dining.

We had an interesting tour at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center as well as the Interpretive Center at the dam. During short sessions, students learned from our biologist the use of Latin in the naming of plants. Most of our students did a lot of swimming during their free time.   A local volunteer, Dave Guttenberg, showed us local hotspots for fossils, and we probed further at a Triceratops dig site at the invitation of a local rancher who welcomed us onto his land. The landowner gave us two triceratops horns that were previously dug out of the pit, and we removed a jaw and a small portion of the skull ourselves!

There were activity trips to UM campus in Missoula, Statewide Upward Bound Olympics in Butte, an orienteering contest in the Pioneer Mountains, and Bannack Days at Bannack State Park. We volunteered to help with activities at the park, but there was plenty of time to take in the candle making, black powder shoots, shootouts, panning for gold, etc.

On the academic side, students worked in teams to prepare research papers and symposium presentations on geology and fossils. The presentations were very creative, with two teams presenting in a traditional, professional format, one team presenting as a Jeopardy game show, and one presenting as a dialogue with supporting roles.