Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Wilmington elementary school students from Gregory School of Science, Mathematics and Technology and St. Mark Catholic School will visit the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Friday, Oct. 21 to "hunt" for fossils as part of National Earth Science Week. In recognition of the week, UNCW's Department of Geography and Geology will hold events for the public and area students in celebration of earth sciences.

WHEN:

Friday, Oct. 21- Earth Science School Outreach Day

9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. - St. Mark Catholic 1^st grade classes

10:30 a.m. to noon - Gregory Math and Science 4^th grade classes

WHERE: DeLoach Hall on the UNCW campus.

WHAT: The department will engage students from Gregory and St. Mark with activities including a fossil hunt using specimen-rich soil from Southeastern North Carolina. Students will dig through the sediment, looking for the fossils of marine life from 2 million years ago, when the region was covered in ocean.

The week will include a National Fossil Day Visiting Lecture by visiting paleontologist Peter Wilf at7 p.m., Tuesday Oct. 18 in DeLoach Hall 114.Wilf, Paleontological Society distinguished lecturer and associate professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, will discuss the topic "Do Leaf-Eating Insects Respond to Environmental Change? Insights from Fossils." The event is free and open to the public.

The American Geological Institute has observed National Earth Science Week every October since 1998. This year's theme is "Our Ever-Changing Earth." For more information, visit http://www.earthsciweek.org .

Media Contact:
William Davis, UNCW Marketing and Communications, 910.962.2654 or davisw@uncw.edu