Paleontology, Past and Present: A New Primary Source Set for Educators

This post is by Jessica Fries-Gaither, a 2024-2025 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the Library of Congress.

Primary sources are excellent tools for conveying the nature and practices of science. By providing a firsthand look at the types of questions scientists pose as well as the methods and strategies they employ to answer them, primary sources humanize the scientific endeavor in ways that other materials cannot. And there may be no scientific discipline better suited to such an “inside look” than paleontology. The study of fossilized remains and what they can teach us about Earth’s history is rife with uncertainty, incomplete data sets, and an ever-evolving understanding of the subject.

A new primary source set from the Library of Congress features 18 primary sources that teachers can use to bring forward the nature of science while also addressing science content standards about paleontology, the fossil record, and geologic time. Through close looking and thoughtful analysis of these items, students can learn about significant paleontological discoveries and practice the types of thinking and questioning employed by professional paleontologists.

The set includes primary sources in diverse formats (photographs, drawings and engravings, newspaper articles, maps, diagrams, and even a piece of congressional legislation) spanning the early years of paleontology to present day. Dig in and discover:

• newspaper accounts recounting major discoveries, including Tyrannosaurus rex and fossilized dinosaur eggs!
• engravings of petrified wood and fossil skulls from Robert Hooke’s Micrographia and Charles Darwin’s Voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle.
• photographs showing how fossil remains are discovered in the field, as well as how skeletons are constructed and displayed.
• maps sharing the distributions of rocks and fossils from different geologic time periods.

The Paleontology, Past and Present primary source set also includes background information, teaching suggestions, and links for additional information and primary sources. We hope that you and your students will find it to be a helpful resource!