St. Joseph Students Search for Fossils

ST. JOSEPH HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS SEARCH FOR FOSSILS

Some of the biology students have been participating in a project, "Project Mastodon", sponsored by Cornell University. The project involves the sorting of 10 pounds of matrix from a mastodon excavation site in Chemung County, New York. After completion of the sorting, the results will be sent back to Cornell University to be added to the results of other schools participating in the project. Students find very old fossils, shells, and rocks in the matrix in addition to more recent artifacts. Some of the fossils are about 365,000,000 years old from a time called the Devonian.
Two of the biology students also participated in an outreach program to one of the classes at St. Patrick's elementary school on St. Croix. They involved the class in the project which helped the St. Patrick's students to learn about fossils in addition to helping the St. Joseph students to do the project.

The photos below show some of the students doing the careful sorting involved in "Project Mastodon".

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