The students in Mara Katz’s fourth-grade class at Emerson Elementary dove into the world of fossils on Monday thanks to a virtual classroom visit from Dr. Briana Pobiner, an archeologist, research scientist and museum educator for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Katz connected with Pobiner through the Skype a Scientist program, which helps classrooms link with thousands of scientists so students can learn about real scientists and get the answers to their questions straight from the source.
During her visit with Katz’s students, Pobiner shared what she does for her job, providing details on her work about fossil evidence and how it helps us understand how the human diet has evolved over time. Students peppered Pobiner with questions about the different kinds of fossils she's found, the places she's visited to look for fossils, what she enjoys about her career, and how the human diet has changed over time.
“Anytime I utilize outside resources and experts my hope is that students see how what they learn in school can be applied outside of school and/or in a real-life career,” said Katz, who annually participates in the Skype a Scientist program.
“Dr. Pobinar is a dynamic and interesting speaker, so I think the kids could see that her job is exciting and engaging. I think they also learned how looking at evidence of the past can inform us about our history and how we have changed over time.”