We are already looking forward to 2024. Our first major fundraiser for the International Camporee will be a special movie night on January 13, where we will be debuting the new movie The Secret of the Fossil. In addition to the movie, we will be selling food and snacks, and having a display of fossils, many of which the SAIL Pathfinders have collected here in Texas. More about the movie fundraiser is here.
The SAIL Pathfinders finished off our final meeting of 2023, looking into the strange world of ants, reviewing information about fossil formation, and baking and decorating Christmas cookies. We were excited to have a former SAIL Pathfinder come back for a visit and join us for the meeting (and show off her excellent cookie decorating skills). We are already looking forward to 2024. Our first major fundraiser for the International Camporee will be a special movie night on January 13, where we will be debuting the new movie The Secret of the Fossil. In addition to the movie, we will be selling food and snacks, and having a display of fossils, many of which the SAIL Pathfinders have collected here in Texas. More about the movie fundraiser is here.
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The SAIL Pathfinders had a busy weekend, joining with several others to help prepare Thanksgiving care packages for the prison, before heading out to hunt fossils as part of our broader studies and activities this year. Bright and early, several members of the SAILs turned out to help make 1000 Bags of Hope that included books and literature, toiletries, snacks, and other items for delivery to a local women's prison as part of the prison ministry program. The SAILs have been participating in this project for several years as part of our community service and outreach mission. After packing bags, we packed up and headed east to collect fossils near the Brazos River. The site has been explored since the 1800s, and contains fossilized seashells, sharks teeth, and other marine life, many preserved exceptionally well. During our previous Pathfinder meeting, we had a chance to look at the types of fossils we would encounter, so the Pathfinders were prepared to know what to look for. Although we had a little light rain during our outing, it was a productive and enjoyable day on the river bank (we even found an otolith - a fossilized fish ear bone!).
As part of our study of fossils, dinosaurs, and creation, the SAIL Pathfinders practiced making field jackets for moving delicate or large fossils from an excavation site. Although our upcoming fossil dig will only be small marine organisms, it was fun to practice a skill used in larger dig sites and for dinosaur and other large fossils. After gathering our tools, we began by carefully excavating the "fossil" bone, leaving it standing on a pedestal of dirt and rock. We gently cleaned off excesses substrate, being careful not to further damage or chip the "fossil." Once the "fossil" was cleaned, the exposed bone was covered with a layer of wet paper towels to protect it from the plaster we used for the jacket (sometimes aluminum foil is used rather than wet paper towels). Near the ends of the bone, we packed gaps with some mud to stabilize the "fossil" and and allow the plaster cast to fit snugly to protect the "fossil." With the "fossil" bone protected, we made up the plaster mix, cut strips of gauze, and dipped the gauze in plaster to begin wrapping the "fossil" and some of the surrounding substrate to stabilize the bone for final excavation and transport. In a larger field excavation, burlap is often used, instead of the lighter gauze we used for practice. After ensuring that we had placed the cast around the ends of the "fossil" bone, and strengthened the long shaft, it was ready to set the jacket aside to dry. At our next meeting, we will finish the excavation, and have a "fossil" ready for transport back to the lab!
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