Cookie Excavation

How do we learn about things that happened in the past? How do scientists search for clues about creatures, features, and events from hundreds or thousands or millions of years ago? What kinds of things from the past can we study and learn about? Scientists are very specific about how they dig through rocks and dirt. Doing research before fieldwork helps them know where to look and what to look for. Many places have been previously been studied by paleontologists, archaeologists, and geologists. Understanding their work & what they learned is an important first step in our research. If you were going to a new place to dig, what kind of research might you do? What information would you like to learn before you dig? Digging is only half the fun, and only half the work. Just as important as finding out about the past is documenting our findings. It is very important that scientists write notes, make maps, take pictures, and record what they learn to share with others. In chemistry or molecular biology you can rerun the exact same experiments again and again to test a theory and learn more information. Challenging and recreating experiments of other scientists is important part of scientific investigation. When you dig, you destroy. As we dig, it is important to keep detailed notes and create accurate maps, because the soil or rock you move and dig through will never be exactly the same way again. Changing the rocks & dirt in one place may affect the surrounding areas or artifacts. We can compare your information to the information of other scientists who study in the same field, but we cannot re-dig the exact same places at archaeological or paleontological sites.