Science Education Center
of California

• Introduction
  
• Number of People We Can Accommodate On Trips
  
• Our 11 Day Adventure: Summer 2006
  • Fossil Dig Background:
    Geologic History of the Wyoming Fossils
    Fossil Creation in the Green River Formation of Wyoming
    Guidelines for Fossil Collection
    
• Your $690 Vacation Package Includes The Following:
  • Food and Lodging
    
• Planning Your Visit and Trip Departure Times
  
• Hotel and Local Pickup

Introduction

The 2006 summer field trip is an 11-day, 2,000-mile adventure combining science, travel and natural history all on one.

For the naturalist and collector, our trip provides an opportunity to see Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion and Bryce National Parks. The collection of fish fossils at a private quarry in Wyoming’s Green River Formation is an added bonus.

For parents wanting an opportunity for their children to increase their exposure to the physical and biological sciences we make sure that each day comes with a new laboratory activity to complement what they see and experience.

For the family wanting a vacation that will last a lifetime, we offer 11 days of stress free travel through 7 states, which includes some of the finest wonders of the natural world without the worry of who will drive and what the children will do.

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Number of People We Can Accommodate On Trips

Our fully equipped laboratory on wheels (with front and rear air conditioning) is designed to accommodate up to 15 passengers and has ample space to house natural history specimens both collected and purchased. As in our classroom presentations, we stress the educational component of our adventures in a small group setting. The small group sizes provide children with an excellent one-on-one educational experience in both the physical and life sciences. Parents can choose the level of academic rigor in assignments for their child so that their individual needs are targeted. Adults can pass on the assignments and just enjoy the geological wonders during the 7-state tour.

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Our 11 Day Adventure

Summer 2006

Day One:
Passenger pickup (home or hotel). Your $690 vacation package includes free passenger pickup from any home or hotel within 40 miles of our location in Orange County: Our first stop will be at the desert information center in Barstow, California. The 5,000-pound Old Woman Springs Meteorite is on display along with educational exhibits on local geology and flora of the region. The Calico Ghost Town and Early Man Archaeological Site are both located off Interstate 15 and about 10 miles north of the desert information center. The archaeological site is an excavation began by Dr. Louis Leakey in 1964, and is one of the oldest prehistoric tool sites discovered in the Western Hemisphere. The ghost town is a restored silver mining town from the 1880’s. We will visit both (weather permitting). We should note that these sites can get quite hot in the summer and may be visited during the cooler hours of the day on the way back from our 11-day adventure. Our drive through the Mojave National Preserve will take us to some of the highest elevations of the Mojave Desert. We will visit Cima Dome, which has one of the densest Joshua tree forests in California. This will be an ideal location for photo taking. Stay in local motel (Primm, Nevada).
Day Two:
Drive to Zion National Park. Activities include the following:
	a.	Zion Canyon Visitor Center (Educational activities)
	b.	Board shuttle for Zion Canyon Scenic Drive
	c.	10 mile drive along the Zion-Mt. Carmel Highway
		i.	Steep drive up switchbacks and through tunnels to Checkerboard Mesa.
	d.	Kolob Canyons:
		i.	5 miles. Scenic drive skirting the Kolob “Finger Canyons”
	e.	Riverside Walk:
		i.	Easy walk (1 mile) along the Virgin River.
	f.	Explore the Temple of Sinawava and associated geological features.
	g.	Stay in local motel (night astronomical viewing on cloud free days).
Day Three and Four:
Once back on Interstate 15, we will progress to Evanston, Wyoming which is the jumping off point for our major dig and exploration into the high country of Wyoming and Montana. On our way to Evanston, we will visit Kennecott Utah's Bingham Canyon Mine. The road to Bingham Canyon is a gradual grade that takes us up 2,000 feet for a panoramic view of the surrounding desert and the open pit mine of Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation’s Bingham Canyon Mine. Nearly 320,000 tons a year of the nation’s copper comes from the open pit mine, and the terraced pit that produces the ore is one of the largest in the world. The site contains a visitor center with educational exhibits and a videotape presentation explaining how copper is produced and used in our daily lives. We will stay in a motel near Salt Lake City (no motels near Bingham Canyon).
Day Five:
Our two-hour scenic drive to a commercial quarry at Fossil Lake will pass through the coal-mining town of Kemmerer, and provides a spectacular vista of the High Uintas to the south. This trek will take us to Fossil Basin, once occupied by prehistoric Fossil Lake (50-54 million years ago). The last 13 miles will be on a graded dirt road, which will take us to the quarry at the top of the hill. Most of the day will be spent at the fossil quarry (Elevation 8,500 feet) and will include an orientation from our guide as well as procedures and guidelines on fossil collecting (see guidelines for fossil collection). We will try to capture the sunset on our return journey to the motel in Evanston. If time permits we may travel a few miles south of Evanston, Wyoming (towards Mirror Lake Summit) for some nighttime astronomical viewing. At 10,200 feet, Mirror Lake Summit has some of the darkest skies in the country.
Day Six:
Our second excursion from Evanston, Wyoming, will be to Fossil Butte National Monument. The location is about 60 miles northeast of Evanston, Wyoming. The visitor center is open every day except winter holidays. The museum that we will explore has exhibits, displays of fossils, and an artist's re-creation of what this area may have looked like in the time of ancient Fossil Lake (50 million years ago). Books and brochures are available, and park rangers can help plan our visit. A schedule of events, including guided walks, is posted. Fossil Butte National Monument, we will travel to Jackson, Wyoming which is the jumping off point for excursions into Grand Teton National Park. We will spend the night either in Colter Bay Village (inside the park) or in Jackson. The log cabins in Colter Bay Village are quite nice, and are only about 10 miles away from the park’s glaciers.
Day Seven and Eight:
The drive along Teton Park road affords some of the most spectacular views of the glaciated canyons extending below the park’s major peaks (Grand Teton, 13,770; Mt. Owen 12,928; Mt. Moran, 12,605 feet; Thor Peak, 12,028 and several more). The various turnouts provide ample opportunities for photographic work, and views through our high powered optical equipment allow for a close up study of the glaciers and block-faulted mountains. From Teton Peak Road, we will be able to reach Yellowstone National Park by way of the south entrance. The first stop will be West Thumb and Grant Village. On the way there, we will cross the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,988 feet. In Grant Village, an interpretive visitor center is available and contains numerous exhibits and a video on the role of fire in Yellowstone. From Grant Village, we will travel westward to Old Faithful, and cross the Continental Divide twice at elevations of 8,391 and 8,262 feet. Old Faithful Geyser: The eruption interval of the geyser is now about 92 minutes. Between eruption intervals, we will enjoy the food and educational exhibits inside the building complex. Old Faithful to Madison: This portion of the park is in the heart of the Yellowstone Caldera. Highlights of this area include the following:
	a.	Black Sand Basin: Bright colors of Sunset Lake and Emerald Pool
	b.	Biscuit Basin: Unusual biscuit shaped mineral deposits, which were destroyed by the 1959 earthquake.
	c.	Midway Geyser Basin: We will walk to Excelsior Geyser Crater and Grand Prismatic Spring.
	d.	Firehole Lake Drive: This short drive will take us to the Great Fountain Geyser, Firehole Lake and a variety of hot pools.
	e.	Fountain Paint Pot: At the Fountain Paint Pot, we will view examples of the four types of hydrothermal features: geysers, fumaroles, mudpots and hot springs.
Madison to Norris: According to the National Park Service, “Norris is the hottest and most seismically active geyser basin in Yellowstone. It lies at the junction of three major faults in the Earth’s crust, two of which intersect the giant ring fractures created by the last major eruption of the Yellowstone volcano some 640,000 years ago.” Highlights of this area include the following:
	a.	Steamboat: The world’s tallest geyser.
	b.	Porcelain Basin: The park’s hottest exposed area.
	c.	Norris Museum: Exhibits explain how geysers work.
	d.	Echinus: The world’s largest acidic geyser.
Norris back to Grant Village: Highlights of the area include the following:
	a.	Canyon Village: A 2.5 mile one-way loop road leads to Inspiration Point, where the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone plunges 1,000 feet.
	b.	Grand View: Spectacular views of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and vistas of the Lower Falls are photographic favorites.
	c.	Mud Volcano Area: The varied thermal features include turbulent and explosive mudpots (including Mud Volcano and Dragon’s Mouth. For those who like fowl smells, Sulfur Caldron is a favorite.
We will spend the night in West Yellowstone (which has a number of motels) or within the park itself.
Day Nine:
The drive to Salt Lake City from West Yellowstone traverses through some of the finest scenery in Idaho. We will pass through the continental divide a fourth and final time, and descend into green pastureland and irrigated cropland of southern Idaho. Finally, as we proceed south, the pastureland will give way to a desert ecosystem and the mineral wealth of Bingam Canyon. We will stay in a motel near Salt Lake City.
Day Ten:
The drive back to Primm, Nevada will take us south along Interstate 15 and through cities such as Provo, Nephi, Fillmore, Beaver, Cedar City, and St. George. As we drive south through Joab valley, we will see Mt. Nebo to the east and other peaks of the Uinta National Forest. The remaining drive south will pass within a few miles of several peaks whose elevation exceeds 10,000 feet. The drive through the Virgin River George cuts through some of the most interesting sedimentary rock of the trip. Some of the folding and faulting of the region can be seen along the side of the gorge. This portion of the trip takes us through the northwestern extremity of Arizona and into southern Nevada. We will stay in one of the larger motels in Mesquite, Nevada.
Day Eleven:
As we drive back to California, we will enter the vast expanses of the Mojave National Preserve and see the dense population of Joshua trees and the old mining areas of Mt. Pass and Calico. We may revisit the ghost town of Calico or the Early Man Archeological Site near Barstow if time permits. Passengers will be dropped off at their homes, local motels or the Science Education Center in Orange, California.

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Fossil Dig Background

Geologic History of the Wyoming Fossils

Between 50 and 54 million years ago the region that now occupies Southwestern Wyoming and Northeastern Utah was neither cold nor arid. Both the fauna (crocodiles, alligators, boa constrictors and a few subtropical fish families) and the flora (such as large palm trees and balloon vines) indicate warm temperate to subtropical conditions. Based on the fossil record, Bradley (1929; 1948), MacGinitie (1969) and others (Roland Brown, E.W. Berry and F.H Knowlton, in various papers) have concluded that the climate of most of the area was similar to the present climate of the Gulf coast and southern Atlantic regions of the United States; namely subtropical with an annual rainfall of 30 to 40 inches and with essentially frost-free winters. The average annual minimum temperature was over 36 degrees and the overall average annual temperate was around 60 to 70 degrees.

The fossil bearing area that we have access to is located on private land (fossil lake deposit), just west of Kemmerer Wyoming. The site is at an elevation of 8,500 feet and the 100+ mile visibility provides a panoramic view of the ice clad High Uintas of Northern Utah.

Source: Grande, L., 1984. Paleontology of the Green River Formation, With a Review of the Fish Fauna, Bulletin 63, Wyoming State Geological Survey, pp. 3.

Fossil Creation in the Green River Formation of Wyoming

The sedimentary rocks that house or entomb the fish of the Green River Formation are composed of almost pure calcite. Mineralogically, the sedimentary deposit is a micrite or fine-grained limestone that formed (50 – 54 million years ago) in a lake saturated with both calcium and carbonate ions. During mass extinction episodes and standard deaths, the fish settled onto the lake bottoms and became rapidly buried by the fine-grained lake deposits. Over time, the soft body tissue chemically broke down and lost its volatile compounds. The remaining material became richer and richer in carbon until only a thin layer of almost pure carbon remained. The carbon coated the bones, teeth and other calcium rich portions of the organisms that became imbedded in chemical equilibrium within the sediment. The resulting fossils possibly contain the best paleontological record of Tertiary aquatic communities in the world.

Guidelines for Fossil Collection

We will be collecting on private land that has produced many fine fossils over several years. Our guide (who pays an annual fee to dig at the quarry) charges $100/person/day for collecting privileges. These fees will be paid by the Science Education Center of California and are included in your $690 trip payment. Our guide, together with the Science Education Center has produced the following guidelines on fossil collection at the quarry. These guidelines are designed to make your collecting a safe and rewarding experience.

These guidelines are the following:

1.	Prior to collecting, all participants will go through an orientation that will include procedures on:
	a.	how to break open the limestone blocks to maximize fossil recovery
	b.	how to chip away at sedimentary portions to minimize damage to surrounding fossil bearing material.
2.	Each participant will wear goggles at all times. While the soft sediment does not spark or give off any sharp pieces of rock, we still want to make sure that nothing can go wrong.
3.	The quarry is broken down into claims. As a result, we will be collecting in designated areas that will be specified by our guide.
4.	Most fossils in the quarry are various species of fish. You can keep all of your fossil finds that are not rare. Large fish (greater than 8 inches), crayfish, shrimp, stingrays, birds, bats, and amphibians are defined by our quarry operator as rare. Any rare finds can be purchased from our guide at a wholesale price. If you uncover a rare find and choose not to make a purchase, the specimen will become the property of our guide who is leasing the portion of the quarry that we will be collecting on.
5.	You can collect for the entire day that we are there. There is also a “partial pile” of fossils. These fossils have already been dug up and have been damaged to some extent. They may be fish that are missing a fin or a head, etc. and are sold as is to companies that resell them to the public. You can keep 20 fish fossils from this pile. Since some of these specimens are better than others, you may want to go to the partial pile of recovered fossils first and do your initial collecting. This will also give you an opportunity to see how the fossils are preserved and how they have been collected.
6.	Due to weight limitations, each person is limited to approximately 50 pounds of fossil material. You may want to “trim” you fossils so that the non-fossil portion is chipped away, leaving a smaller and more valuable specimen (that is lighter as well) behind. During my last collection, I went away with about 50 pounds of material, most of which is on display at the Science Education Center in Orange.
7.	The quarry is located at the top of a hill at an elevation of 8,500. While this is only about 1,700 feet higher than the city of Evanston, Wyoming, it still is rather high up. We encourage participants to walk slowly and not over exert themselves. The quarry location is flat and the vehicle takes you right into the quarry.

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Your $690 Vacation Package Includes The Following:

• The Science Education Center will provide free passenger pickup (from your home or hotel) as long as the home or hotel is located within 40 miles of the Science Education Center in Orange County. Please see the last section titled “Hotel and local pickup” for more details.
  
• The Science Education Center will transport all passengers on an 11-day/ 10-night tour across 7 states. The travel distance is approximately 2,000 miles. A detailed summary of our stops during the 11 day tour is outlined in the section titled “Our 11 Day Adventure – Summer 2006”.
  
• All entrance fees to national parks, monuments, museums, and other localities that charge an entrance fee will be paid by the Science Education Center.
  
• A guided tour is provided at all times and includes age appropriate assignments (in the physical and life sciences) for our younger members. All assignments will be graded and comments provided.
  
• All fish fossil collecting fees at the privately owned quarry in Wyoming are included in your trip fee. This includes the salary for our guide, unlimited collection of fish fossils at the quarry, and 20 free fish fossils from the “partial pile” at the quarry. Nobody will go away empty handed. Please see the section titled “Guidelines For Fossil Collection” for a complete summary of the privileges that we have secured as a result of our close working relationship with the people who have a lease on the quarry.
  
• All materials for student assignments will be provided. This includes thermometers, barometers, scales, calculators, collecting tools, goggles, hard hats, science handouts, high-powered binoculars (20 x 80), and a telescope. All assignments will be graded with personal feedback given to all students.
  
• All equipment for passengers will be provided as well. This includes goggles, collecting tools, hard hats, packaging material to protect fish fossils and high-powered binoculars (20 x 80).
  
• At the end of the trip, the Science Education Center will drop off passengers free of charge to their home or hotel as long as their destination is within 40 miles of the Science Education Center in Orange County, California.
  
• The cost of meals and lodging are not included in your tour package. Typical prices for these services are described below and are quite reasonable.

Food and Lodging
Lodging is rather inexpensive in Utah, Wyoming, and southern Nevada. Rates (based on double occupancy) for one-person will range from about $15 - $25 in Mesquite Nevada to about $25 - $40 in Utah and Wyoming.

For those who would like to have a single room and do not want to share it with anyone, expect the following rates:

• Least expensive: Mesquite Nevada has many very nice rooms (AAA rated) for around $25/room.
  
• Most expensive: In the heart of Yellowstone National Park, a single person can stay in a room for around $70-$120/room.

Dining Options: There are many options for fine dining during our 11-day trip. Most restaurants have good hearty meals for under $10. The Science Education Center will also make one stop each day at a grocery store to pick up food as requested by our passengers. As a result, we can offer the healthiest foods available for the best price.

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Planning Your Visit and Trip Departure Times

We have tentatively scheduled a maximum of 4 trips for the 2006 summer season.

Trip #1 Departure Date: July 5
Return Date: July 15

Trip #2 Departure Date: July 18
Return Date July 28

Trip #3 Departure Date July 31
Return Date August 10

Trip #4 Departure Date August 16
Return Data August 26

When you call or e-mail with your travel intentions, please indicate which trip number best fits your schedule. If you would like to go on a trip but do not know your summer schedule, please let us know as well. Based on this initial feedback, we will finalize the trip departure times. As a result, the trips listed above should be considered tentative and the number of trips available could change (increased or decreased) based on consumer demand.

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Hotel and Local Pickup

The Science Education Center of California is located within about 40 miles of Los Angeles International Airport, Orange County, Burbank and Ontario International Airports. We are willing to pick up your party (no charge) from a local hotel or motel (within 40 miles of our location in Orange County) early on day 1 of our trip. The free pickup is included as part of the field trip fee, and is designed to give your party a hassle free start to a 2,000 mile vacation. If you are a local resident (within 40 miles of our location in Orange County) the same policy applies; namely we will pick you up at no charge from your home early on day 1 of the trip. On day 11, local residents and tourists will be dropped off at their homes or hotels as long as they meet the 40-mile constraint. If you are a passenger whose beginning or final destination is greater than 40 miles from the Science Education Center in Orange, it is your responsibility to secure transportation to and from our location in Orange, California.