Park Ave students rapt by visiting avocational paleontologist

Students in Julie Hornbeck’s and Shannon Kennedy’s classes had the opportunity to see, touch and learn about fossils from millions of years ago when a grandfather of two Park Avenue Elementary School students visited their rooms recently.

Howard Cohn, a retired New York City school teacher-turned avocational paleontologist, is the grandfather of fourth-grader Jonathan Cohn and second-grader Julie Cohn. Ms. Hornbeck’s students have been learning about fossils as part of the science curriculum.

Mr. Cohn was eager to share the knowledge and fossils that he's acquired over the years with both classes. He has built up a collection of fossils by finding them himself, such as during a dig in South Dakota, or by purchasing special ones from eBay.  He shared some of his collection with the students.

In Ms. Hornbeck’s class, he held up a portion of a tooth of a Megalodon shark.

“The Megalodon is believed to be the largest meat-eating shark that ever lived,” he said. “This itself is probably just part of one, and this piece is probably about 3 inches. At the time that the Megalodons were living, you did not have to worry about getting bitten by one of the larger Megalodon sharks. Why do you think you wouldn't have to worry about being bitten?”

He waited for an answer as the students sat in awe.

“You wouldn't have to worry about getting bitten by a Megalodon because the largest Megalodon would just eat you all up in one bite.”

Fourth-grader Adelaide Ronne found Mr. Cohn’s presentation fascinating.

“I just like learning about things a long time ago, and animals and seeing dinosaurs’ bones and a Megalodon’s tooth,” she said. “I thought that was really cool because those things haven’t been alive for like a million, million years. Dinosaurs are now like fictional characters in this time. They were huge creatures, and you compare that giant tooth to a normal tooth. That’s really cool!”

In small groups, the students used hand magnifying lenses to examine the fossils up close, discuss their observations with each other, and report back to the class what they found – trying to guess the type of fossil. The junior paleontologists studied the fossils of a whale bone, a pinecone, ferns, and a megalodon tooth, among others.

Integrating community members, such as grandparents, into classroom learning brings knowledge and experience that enriches the learning environment for students. Grandparents and other community members possess a unique perspective and real-life experiences that complement traditional teaching. Their presence can also create respect and intergenerational bonds, which promote respect and understanding, and connect students to the wider community.

“Utilizing the valuable members of our Warwick community increases student learning opportunities,” said Ms. Hornbeck. “This visit by Mr. Cohn to our classrooms was a great community-classroom connection for Park Avenue Elementary that brings real meaning to our students as they are able to interact with his many fossils and talk about what the world was like long ago.”

Mr. Cohn also showed other fossil examples from his collection.  Everyone was wowed by a baby woolly mammoth tooth, shark teeth, a shark jaw with teeth, and a horn from a triceratops. 

“We are so thankful to have had Mr. Cohn come into our classrooms to teach us about fossils,” Ms. Kennedy said. “We were able to bring in a grandparent of two of our students who shared new information to the classes. It was such a fantastic experience for the students!”