At today’s Ecology Club, we got one set of seeds into cold moist treatment in the PTA refrigerator, where they’ll stay for 60 days before we put them in soil and start growing them in the school and at home. We also looked at a variety of fossils borrowed from the DuPage Forest Preserve, including a bunch of granite mixed with fossil pieces. The kids used magnifying glasses to find the fossils. We also learned that Illinois has a state fossil and that it is a fossil that has never been found elsewhere. It is commonly called Tullymonster, named after Mr. Tully who brought a specimen to the Field Museum over half a century ago. It is special among fossils because the soft portions of the body, which typically disintegrate over time or are eaten by scavengers, were fossilized as well.

Several of the kids mentioned their interest in fossils so I thought you might want to know about special activities coming up at the LIzzadro Museum in Elmhurst. This small museum will have the following two programs this winter that may interest budding scientists. The trip to Mazon Creek takes people to the spot where the “Tullymonster” was first discovered.