MAmmoTH Hunters at Lincoln College

[APRIL 25, 2006]  Something very old is teaching something new at Lincoln College. A new summer program called MAmmoTH Hunters, incorporating a mammoth tusk and tooth that were found last fall by students and a science professor at Lincoln College, is being offered to help junior high students learn how mathematics and science interact.

Lincoln College mathematics professor Mari J. Baker and science professor Dr. G. Dennis Campbell have put together a five-day hands-on workshop that covers math and science topics dealing with reconstructing the mammoth, math modeling, orienteering, tree measurements and using a global positioning system to locate the excavation site where the mammoth tusk was found.

Baker said the idea for the new program came from a simple lunch conversation mentioning how intrigued her junior high nephew was by the mammoth tusk when he passed by the science lab on his visit to her office.

"Dennis and I started talking about possible ways of doing hands-on experiments with junior high students so they could develop a deeper appreciation and interest in the interconnection between the two fields of study through everyday application," Baker said. "We started creating this summer project from that point on."

Campbell said he and Baker talk daily and both were hoping to create a program that gives students some hands-on experience using both math and science.

"The language of science is math, and we thought if junior high students could benefit and have fun at the same, then our program will be a success," said Campbell.

The summer math and science day camp is being offered to seventh- through ninth-graders in the Lincoln area. The program will run from 9 a.m. to noon June 19-23. The cost is $100, and space is limited to the first 25 who register. For more information or to register, contact John Stoltzenburg at Lincoln College at 732-3155, ext. 327.

[Lincoln College news release]