![Two hands hold a fossil.](https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2024/03/n21233076/jcr:content/image.img.cq5dam.thumbnail.500.500.jpg/1709921868489.jpg)
Fox19: UC uses fossils to teach kids about environment
Clifton Area Neighborhood School pays visit to geosciences to learn about STEM
Fox19 covered an elementary school visit to the University of Cincinnati where fifth- and sixth-graders learned about the environment.
Students from the Clifton Area Neighborhood School took part in activities and learned about the latest research by faculty in UC's Department of Geosciences.
The science day is sponsored by UC's Center for Public Engagement with Science.
Professor Brooke Crowley led students in games of Jenga with a sturdy tower of blocks representing high biodiversity and a tippy tower of blocks representing low biodiversity. In her lab, she and her students use isotopic analysis to study long-extinct animals and to help conservationists protect rare and endangered species around the world.
Among her many UC research projects, she has studied goshawks and lemurs in Madagascar, jaguars in Belize and extinct mammoths and mastodons in what is now the United States.
"If we only have a few animals or plants in an ecosystem, it's less stable and you can have ecosystem collapse," she said.
UC Associate Professor Andy Czaja took part in the Geosciences showcase for visiting students at the Clifton Area Neighborhood School. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC
Graduate student Lilja Carden organized the event to showcase UC Geosciences.
Under an enormous mosasaur skeleton suspended from the ceiling, Professor Carlton Brett walked students through a timeline taped to the floor stretching back past the Ice Age, the age of dinosaurs, the Permian-Triassic extinction that killed most life on Earth and the Ordovician Period 485 million years ago that left fossil evidence in Ohio's creeks of the great inland sea that once covered the Midwest.
"Which of these are fossils?" Brett asked the students? "Yes, these are ancient shark teeth that are probably 10 million years old."
Associate Professor Andy Czaja showed off a model of the Perseverance rover and let students see rare fossils of bacteria dating back 3 billion years. The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. He is a member of the NASA science team that is using the rover to look for evidence of ancient life on Mars.
Featured image at top: A fossil shows evidence of ancient bacterial life. UC played host to students from the Clifton Area Neighborhood School for a science showcase. Photo/Joseph Fuqua II/UC
UC Professor Brooke Crowley studies both living and extinct animals in her lab. Her research is helping to conserve wildlife around the world. Photo/Jay Yocis/UC
Related Stories
Cincinnati researchers want to know if MRIs can work better
June 28, 2024
![WVXU logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/wvxu.png)
WVXU and the Cincinnati Business Courier highlighted a new collaboration between the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, UC Health GE HealthCare, JobsOhio, REDI Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s to create an MRI Research and Development Center of Excellence located on UC’s medical campus.
UC opens Blood Cancer Healing Center
June 28, 2024
![WLWT 5 logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/wlwt-dark.png)
Media outlets including WLWT, Local 12, Spectrum News, the Cincinnati Enquirer and Cleveland.com highlighted the opening of the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center's Blood Cancer Healing Center.
Financial factors to consider when moving
June 27, 2024
![USA Today logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/usa-today.png)
Moving can be a stressful and expensive endeavor. When it comes time to move, there are important financial implications to consider, Gary Painter, PhD, the academic director of the University of Cincinnati’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business real estate program and a professor of real estate, told USA Today.
New project aims to better support teen mothers in Adams County
June 27, 2024
![WCPO logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/wcpo-dark.png)
WCPO highlighted a partnership between the University of Cincinnati and the Adams County Health Department that is aiming to provide better support for teen mothers in the county.
Free Wi-Fi, work area coming to Greater Cincinnati
June 27, 2024
![Local 12 logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/wkrc-logo-dark.png)
St. Lawrence Park in Price Hill now has free Wi-Fi and a furnished outdoor space for community members to access digital needs. The space is part of The Nodes Project, which stands for “Neighborhoods of Design Engagement": a collaboration between UC DAAP communication designers and community entities.
Study aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths presents results
June 27, 2024
![Spectrum News logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/spectrum-news.png)
The University of Cincinnati's John Winhusen and Caroline Freiermuth discussed the evidence-based practices implemented during the HEALing Communities Study to fight the opioid epidemic with Spectrum News.
UC alum credits journalism program with early success
June 26, 2024
Zachary Jarrell came to the University of Cincinnati in 2019 to pursue a degree in statistics. In 2023, he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Journalism. For many undergraduates, the journey through college rarely takes the expected track. Detours happen, and majors change. When plans switch up, it can be helpful to a student’s success to find support. For Jarrell, it was the people he worked alongside in the journalism department who helped him on his journey. It has left a lasting impression on his life so far, guiding him to multiple internships as an undergraduate, real-world experience in prominent news outlets, and eventually a successful career in the highly competitive field of journalism.
The health impact of living near a natural gas leak
June 25, 2024
![BBC logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/bbc.png)
UC College of Arts and Sciences Professor Amy Townsend-Small talks to the BBC about the health issues faced by neighbors of leaking natural gas wells.
Male birth control gel inches towards FDA approval
June 25, 2024
![Yahoo News logo](/content/dam/refresh/uc-news/news-icons/dark/yahoo.png)
The University of Cincinnati's Wesley Baas spoke with Yahoo News and the Cincinnati Enquirer about a new male birth control gel that could be close to receiving FDA approval.
Carnegie Foundation recognizes UC with Leadership for Public Purpose classification
June 24, 2024
UC part of inaugural group honored for focusing on developing students as leaders