FILE: Fossil displays at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Photo credit: The University of Utah.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) has launched a new virtual learning tool called Triceratops Traits. The new program is part of the museum’s existing Research Quest education program.
Triceratops Traits is designed to educate students between 6th and 8th grades about the evolution, extinction, and diversity of life forms. Students will work with paleontologists to solve mysteries as they study the data from fossil records.
“We’re excited to be expanding our library of Research Quest investigations. The program is a powerful tool for middle school science teachers to expand the critical thinking skills of their students,” said Dr. Jason Cryan, executive director of NHMU.
Research Quest is led by NHMU’s Digital Learning and Curriculum Coordinator, Merinda Davis. Each of the ten investigations can be used alone or in conjunction with one another as a tool to develop critical thinking skills.
Within the games, students are presented with real-world questions, study evidence, and create their own theories using interactive learning techniques.
“Students will be using the same tools used by professional scientists to evaluate the relationships of famous dinosaurs like Triceratops,” said Dr. Mark Loewen, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Utah’s Natural History Museum.
“The multiple modules in this investigation will be both interesting and engaging for students and teachers alike as they learn about the life that inhabited the West millions of years ago,” Loewen said.