Sloths et al . teaching the "E" word:

1. Sloths et al. teaching the "E" word: using extant and extinct xenarthran cranial materials to exemplify for middle school students change though time and how science works Barbara J. Shaw Luis A. Ruedas Portland State University

2. Acknowledgments My Advisory Committee: Dr. Debbie Duffield Dr. Lisa Weasel Dr. Keith Hadley Dr. Virginia Butler Dr. Randy Zelick (Comprehensive Committee) Most of all: Dr. Luis A. Ruedas, my major professor, for all his invaluable support, guidance, and encouragement Dr. Richard B. Forbeswhose memory I hold dear Tom Lindsay and my Lab Mates

3. Acknowledgments Funding: Collections Study Grant ESIE Award #0119786 Collections: American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY Dr. Jin Meng Ms. Susan Koelle Bell Dr. John Wahlert Ms. S. Jean Spence Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, CA Dr. Chris Conroy Dr. Jim Patton Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, FL Dr. Richard Hulbert Dr. Laura Wilkins Museum of Vertebrate Biology, Portland, OR Dr. Luis A. Ruedas

4. K-12 Battlefield • Supernatural • Intelligent Designer • Irreducible Complexity vs • Rational • Descent with Modification • Natural Selection http://www.discovery.org/csc/ http://www.tortoisetours.com/files/Menu/gi_finches.1.JPG

5. That can’t be right. Support for Evolution Believe???? http://www.the-funneled-web.com/N&V_2005(Jan-Dec)/N&V_0504/news__views_item_april_2005-050428.htm

6. Student Graph Evolution in Oregon • The Oregon science Content Standards, adopted in April 2001, clearly require the teaching of evolution.

7. Oregon Standards on Inquiry • Ask questions or develop hypothesis based on observations • Design experiment • Collect data • Interpret results

8. Student Graph Methods • 45 crania and mandibles • 16 extinct xenarthrans skulls • 23 extant xenarthran skulls • 15 Dasypus novemcinctus skulls for a control • 6 outgroup skulls • 15 calipers – 150 mm • 5 calipers – 600 mm • Student notebooks • Pre and Post assessment

9. Assessment • Identifying Testable Questions • Biostratigraphy • General Facts and Observations • About xenarthrans • Similarities within xenarthrans • Differences within xenarthrans • Observations about a xenarthran • Observations about a dinosaur • Phylogenetic Tree

10. Pilosa Skulls • FamilyBradypodidae • Bradypus tridactylus • FamilyMegalonychidae • Choloepus didactylus • Choloepus hoffmanni • †Megalonyxleptostomus – Florida Pleistocene • †9 unknown small ground sloths specimens – Argentina Miocene

11. Pilosa Skulls • Family Mylodontidae • †Catonyx tarijensis BoliviaPleistocene • †Glossotherium chapadmalensis – Florida Pliocene • †Scelidodon sp. – Argentina Pleistocene • Family Myrmecophagidae • Myrmecophaga tridactyla • Tamandua mexicana

12. Cingulata Skulls • Family Glyptodontidae • Glyptodon calvipes – Uruguay Pleistocene • Panochthus tuberculatus – Argentina Pleistocene • Family Pampatheriidae • Holmesina septentrionalis – Florida Pleistocene • Family Dasypodidae • Dasypus novemcinctus • Cabassous unicinctus • Euphractus sexcinctus • Priodontes maximus

13. Participants • Human Subjects Review approved • 78 students participated average 10.8 hr. • 35 signed permission • 3 students missed post-assessment • 32 participants total • Normally distributed • Paired Student-t test • Student-t test with equal variance to assess student variables

14. Student Demographics

15. Student Demographics Estimated 17 students on FRM

16. Results - Significant • Assessment Questions • Testable Questions, p=0.330 df=31 Mis-identified testable, p=1.0000 df=9 *Mis-identified nontestable, p=0.0067 df=9 *Mis-identified non vs test, p=0.0002 df=19

17. Results - Significant • Assessment Questions • *Facts, p=7.3x10-5 df=31 *Factual statements, p=0.004 df=31 *Xenarthran knowledge, p=0.005 df=31 *Same, p=0.05 df=31 *Different, p=0.005

18. Results - Significant • Assessment Questions • *Total, p=0.003 df=31 • Significant gain under the following parameters: • Over 11 hours exposure to materials p=2.79x10-7 df=30 • Over 70% Free or Reduced Meals! p=0.038 df=30 • Average gain for <50% = 1.65 • Average gain for >70% = 5.79!

19. Results – Not Significant • Assessment Questions • Biostratigraphy, p=0.325 df=31 • Observations about a dinosaur, p=0.379 df=31 • Phylogenetic tree, p=0.562 df=31

20. Conclusions • Difficult for students to identify non-testable questions (>⅓ students thought that these were testable). • Are armadillos empathetic? • Are sloths slow because they are deep thinkers? • Are sloths slow because they are lazy? • Did anteaters lose all their teeth as a punishment because they wanted to eat little animals?

21. Conclusions • Students improved significantly in reciting facts about xenarthrans • Number of hours of students participation was significant ( >10.5) • Schools with >70% of student body in Free and Reduced Meal program gained significantly from the Pre to Post assessment

22. Conclusions • Students did not show significance in biostratigraphy or phylogenetic trees however, most classes asked questions related to biomechanics

23. Student Graph

24. Choloepus didactylus Choluis ruedas Thank You