Fossils
Click HERE for a page of helps for the Fossil Honor.
The Fossil honor is one of the honors that is well suited to the Austin and Central Texas area. Cretaceous layers are visible around the city in road cuts, and yield abundant fossils, from oysters, gastropods and bivalves to worm-casings, ammonites and sea urchins (see Common Fossils in the Glen Rose Limestone for some examples). Not too far away, the Mineral Wells Fossil Park offers an opportunity to see an collect Pennsylvanian age Crinoids and other shallow-sea fossils. Collecting fossils is fun, and in this area relatively easy, without the need for major excavations (the highway department has already done that for us). In addition, the Texas Natural Science Center hosts the Texas Memorial Museum right on the UT campus. This museum houses a large collection of fossils, not only of the common marine invertebrates found in our local Cretaceous formations, but also of extinct reptiles and amphibians, dinosaurs and Pleistocene (Ice Age) mammals. There is almost always someone in the Paleo Lab to answer questions and show how work is done. We also have the Paleontological Society of Austin, which has classes, field trips and educational programs.
Paleontology (the study of ancient life, including fossils and the lives of fossilized organisms) has had a mixed history in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. As we believe in a literal seven days of creation, the geological timescales used in paleontology, which date back hundreds of millions of years, is hard to reconcile with traditional Christian beliefs that the Bible suggests a 6000-10,000 year old maximum age for the Earth. So how do we deal with questions of evolution, of the origins of the Earth, of life, and on the obvious existence of fossils and geological layers in the earth? Through the study of the Fossil honor, we begin to better understand how a cataclysmic event, like the Flood of Genesis, could be responsible in a very short time for what many scientists today believe would take millions if not billions of years to accomplish. By arming ourselves with knowledge, and by looking at science as a revelation of God, rather than an alternative to God, we can gain much in knowledge and strengthened faith. As Ellen White said in the book Education, "Science is ever discovering new wonders; but she brings from her research nothing that, rightly understood, conflicts with divine revelation." In other words, studying science, and in this case studying fossils, does not lead us into contradiction with the scriptures, but rather sheds another light on the revelation of God and his creation.
Below are the requirements for the Fossil Honor, a link to a page of helps, as well as links to other resources. Remember, earning an honor is not about simply copying other people's information or text books, it is about learning something, both the "hard stuff" and the fun stuff, and building your mental and spiritual powers (and in the case of fossils, physical prowess as well, depending upon just where you hunt them) as you pursue the course of study.
A quick primer on collecting fossils can be found at AgeOfDinosaurs.com. Lecture notes from Professor Steven Dutch at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Geological Time and Earth History and on Fossils and Evolution are also useful for a quick reference guide to some of the terminology, as well as comparing different views of history. A couple of nearby collection sites can be found by reviewing a travelogue of Fossicking in Texas, and directions to Whiskey Bridge. One of my favorite local sites is the road cut on southbound 360 at the 2244 exit. There are numerous other nice road cuts, including some on the way out to Emma Long Park, and Shoal Creek has fossils along its banks.
The Fossil honor is one of the honors that is well suited to the Austin and Central Texas area. Cretaceous layers are visible around the city in road cuts, and yield abundant fossils, from oysters, gastropods and bivalves to worm-casings, ammonites and sea urchins (see Common Fossils in the Glen Rose Limestone for some examples). Not too far away, the Mineral Wells Fossil Park offers an opportunity to see an collect Pennsylvanian age Crinoids and other shallow-sea fossils. Collecting fossils is fun, and in this area relatively easy, without the need for major excavations (the highway department has already done that for us). In addition, the Texas Natural Science Center hosts the Texas Memorial Museum right on the UT campus. This museum houses a large collection of fossils, not only of the common marine invertebrates found in our local Cretaceous formations, but also of extinct reptiles and amphibians, dinosaurs and Pleistocene (Ice Age) mammals. There is almost always someone in the Paleo Lab to answer questions and show how work is done. We also have the Paleontological Society of Austin, which has classes, field trips and educational programs.
Paleontology (the study of ancient life, including fossils and the lives of fossilized organisms) has had a mixed history in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. As we believe in a literal seven days of creation, the geological timescales used in paleontology, which date back hundreds of millions of years, is hard to reconcile with traditional Christian beliefs that the Bible suggests a 6000-10,000 year old maximum age for the Earth. So how do we deal with questions of evolution, of the origins of the Earth, of life, and on the obvious existence of fossils and geological layers in the earth? Through the study of the Fossil honor, we begin to better understand how a cataclysmic event, like the Flood of Genesis, could be responsible in a very short time for what many scientists today believe would take millions if not billions of years to accomplish. By arming ourselves with knowledge, and by looking at science as a revelation of God, rather than an alternative to God, we can gain much in knowledge and strengthened faith. As Ellen White said in the book Education, "Science is ever discovering new wonders; but she brings from her research nothing that, rightly understood, conflicts with divine revelation." In other words, studying science, and in this case studying fossils, does not lead us into contradiction with the scriptures, but rather sheds another light on the revelation of God and his creation.
Below are the requirements for the Fossil Honor, a link to a page of helps, as well as links to other resources. Remember, earning an honor is not about simply copying other people's information or text books, it is about learning something, both the "hard stuff" and the fun stuff, and building your mental and spiritual powers (and in the case of fossils, physical prowess as well, depending upon just where you hunt them) as you pursue the course of study.
A quick primer on collecting fossils can be found at AgeOfDinosaurs.com. Lecture notes from Professor Steven Dutch at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay on Geological Time and Earth History and on Fossils and Evolution are also useful for a quick reference guide to some of the terminology, as well as comparing different views of history. A couple of nearby collection sites can be found by reviewing a travelogue of Fossicking in Texas, and directions to Whiskey Bridge. One of my favorite local sites is the road cut on southbound 360 at the 2244 exit. There are numerous other nice road cuts, including some on the way out to Emma Long Park, and Shoal Creek has fossils along its banks.
Fossil Honor Requirements
Click HERE for a page of helps for the Fossil Honor.
1. Make a collection of at least ten different kinds of fossils and label each with its name and geographic location.
2. Have a brief definition of each of the following in your notebook:
1. Make a collection of at least ten different kinds of fossils and label each with its name and geographic location.
2. Have a brief definition of each of the following in your notebook:
a. Geology
b. Fossils c. Catastrophism d. Paleontology e. Graptolite f. Trilobite g. Dinosaur h. Mammoth i. Mastodon j. Crinoid k. Lingula |
l. Calamite
m. Foraminifera n. Radiolaria o. Paleozoic p. Mesozoic q. Cenozoic r. Pleistocene s. Paleobotany t. Pelecypod u. Brachiopod |
3. Visit a museum where fossils are on display and make a written or oral report of your trip.
4. Describe the process of the proper removal of delicate specimens. Tell how a skeleton of a dinosaur or other gigantic fossil would be removed. Why should beginners not remove such specimens? What should be done by the beginner when he finds what is obviously a valuable fossil?
5. Explain the difference in the account scientists give for the presence of fossils as related by evolutionists and creationists.
6. From the Bible and writings of Ellen G. White cite statements to explain the origin of the following:
a. Coal
b. Petroleum
c. Fossils
d. Limestone
4. Describe the process of the proper removal of delicate specimens. Tell how a skeleton of a dinosaur or other gigantic fossil would be removed. Why should beginners not remove such specimens? What should be done by the beginner when he finds what is obviously a valuable fossil?
5. Explain the difference in the account scientists give for the presence of fossils as related by evolutionists and creationists.
6. From the Bible and writings of Ellen G. White cite statements to explain the origin of the following:
a. Coal
b. Petroleum
c. Fossils
d. Limestone