Megatherium, the so-called ‘giant sloth’, was a massive ground-dwelling relative of modern sloths. This particular species, Megatherium americanum, was the largest of its kind. It browsed for plants in South America during the Pleistocene and became extinct just ten thousand years ago. This Giant Sloth toy figure is 4.5 inches high and 3.5 inches long. All Safari Ltd. products are Non-toxic and BPA free.

Ammonites were a group of marine molluscs related to modern octopus, squids and cuttlefish that first appeared in the Devonian Period (about 400 million years ago) and went extinct 66 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Unlike octopus and squids and cuttlefish, ammonites have a large external shell that makes them look a bit like huge snails. This Ammonite toy model is 5.25 inches long and 2.5 inches high. All Safari Ltd. products are Non-toxic and BPA free.

The woolly mammoth is a close relative of modern elephants. Its hairy coat helped it to keep warm while it foraged for grasses to eat during the end of the ice age, 400,000 to 4,000 years ago. Herds of woolly mammoths had a broad range across northern Europe and Asia, and North America. This adult woolly mammoth toy model is 5.5 inches long and 5.5 inches high. All Safari Ltd. products are Non-toxic and BPA free.

These 'terrible lizards' continue to fascinate us all! 54 vibrant illustrations including an indication of size, area and prehistoric time in which they lived.

Sorry you're feeling under the weather! This meteorology card is the right card to send when you're hoping the winds of change will bring healthier days.

Recent years have witnessed increasing awareness and interest in rare earth elements (REE). These several, usually unfamiliar elements are key components of countless products used in our daily lives. Because of their use in many modern technologies, including those important for national security, the demand for REE grows, and so does the production, need to find their new sources and improve the extraction. This article provides an overview of REEs, their availability, production, and uses, and briefly discusses the future of these valuable and critical metals.

A noteworthy specimen recording a syn vivo interaction between a stalked echinoderm and a tabulate coral is described herein from the middle Silurian (Wenlock: Sheinwoodian) Massie Formation of Ripley County, southeastern Indiana. Part of the column of the camerate crinoid Eucalyptocrinites is encrusted around the entirety of its lateral margin by a favositid colony. The radially outward orientation of corallites on both the upper and lower surfaces of the colony show that the coral was elevated completely above the seafloor and, more importantly, that the crinoid column had to be vertical at the time of initial encrustation and subsequent coral astogeny. Hence, the crinoid host was most likely alive throughout the duration of this interaction. No evidence for a paleopathological reaction is present on the crinoid column, suggesting that the encruster did not adversely affect the host. This most likely reflects the long and inflexible column of Eucalyptocrinites, which could have supported encrusting, secondarily tiered organisms—even relatively heavy ones—without interfering with the biological functions of the crown or weighing down the column.

Water Quality Indiana is a learning platform that leverages collaborations, community partnerships, and active mentorship of transdisciplinary student cohorts. Since 2013, this platform has engaged teams of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and communication and media students to investigate water quality in east central Indiana (since expanded to other domestic and international locations) in an experiential problem-based learning environment. For community partners, Water Quality Indiana provides scientific data, analysis, and multimedia deliverables about water quality, and it has a successful record of finding solutions to real-world problems. From the point of view of faculty, project deliverables enhance several aspects of a faculty portfolio. For student participants, the goal is to increase metacognition, civic engagement, and confidence in processes associated with STEM and media studies, and, therefore, the transdisciplinary skills required in an increasingly competitive workforce. Assessing learning artifacts (e.g., assignment, quizzes, or other evaluative metrics) reveals a cognitive dissonance between metacognition and accuracy in declarative knowledge related to topics in water quality—student scores did not increase in posttest data despite an increased confidence in selected answers. In contrast, pretest and posttest results, synthesis reports, and focus group data suggest that confidence in procedural knowledge in both water quality and media production significantly increased by the end of the course. Students cited time constraints imposed by academic calendars and project deadlines as a limitation of the learning environment. Course data reveal differences based on academic background and gender: 1) media studies majors became more confident in their multimedia skills, while STEM majors became less confident; 2) note-taking style and detail is more organized and meticulous for female and STEM students compared to male and media studies counterparts.