Fossil Forests Kits

The Fossil Forests STEM kit offers a hands-on experience with petrified wood research. The kit is tailored to 6–12th-grade students but has also been appreciated by adult and college-educated audiences. The collaboration between scientists and educators in the development of the kit has produced activities that feel authentic and relevant, facilitating a situated learning experience. The kit teaches students how fossil wood is formed, how to identify the types of trees fossil wood represents, and how fossil wood can be used to infer past climate conditions. Originally designed for a U.S. audience, the kit has been translated into an Indonesian version. After using the kit, both U.S. and Indonesian students had an improvement in understanding, as measured by a word cloud, and realized that plants—not just animals—can become fossils. The Fossil Forests STEM kit helps teach Next Generation Science Standards while helping students form a stronger science identity and gain greater familiarity with plants and plant fossils. These efforts are important since familiarity is the first step to cultivating plant awareness and inspiring a lifelong connection with geoheritage.