Organisms and aspects of the fossil record are widespread in popular culture: not just movies and TV shows, but games, political cartoons, toys, commercial products, and more. Each student will find an example of such (not including the Jurassic Park/World franchise!!), which they will evaluate and present in Discussion section.

By the end of the the project each will produce two deliverable graded items:

• The project itself: uploaded to ELMS, this is documentation of the example of the fossil record in popular culture that you found and an analysis/criticism of the item
• The presentation: a brief (3 minute or so) presentation in Discussion section about your example

There are a few steps for this project to get there. The first one is finding your example:

We would like to see as diverse a set of examples of the use of fossil organisms in popular culture as possible. Finding examples of dinosaurs and "cavemen" is very easy, but plenty of other creatures show up: mammoths, sabertooth cats, ammonites, Archaeopteryx, and plenty of others. Don't restrict yourself to dinosaurs and "cavemen" (although these would still qualify.)

Also, we'd like to see as broad a range of sources as possible. You need not limit yourself to English language material or American sources. Similarly, a wide range of time periods is good: modern 21st Century examples will be easiest to find, but 20th and even 19th Century examples are perfectly acceptable.

There are many possible sources to find, all of which can be used. Consider the following possibilities:

• Films and television: whether aimed for adults or children, live-action or animated, serious or comedic, there are plenty to choose from.
  • NOTE: the Jurassic Park franchise of films, cartoons, toys, video games, etc., is not allowed: that is too easy!
• Toys
• Video games or other games
• Comic books
  • In the case of some of the above, you can focus either on entire movies, toys, video games, etc., that are fossil record centered, or on a particular fossil-based character or setting within the story/franchise/whatever even if the series/story/whatever isn't necessarily about ancient organisms.
  • NOTE: if you choose a Pokémon character based on fossil organisms (of which there are several) you need to report on the ENTIRE ontogenetic series, not just one morph!
• Online comics, comic strips, political cartoons
• Advertisements, commercials, logos
• Print fiction
• Music, poetry, drama
• Painting, sculpture
• Educational material

Some things that are not acceptable here:

• "Jurassic Park/World" (see above)
• Material from museums, nature centers, and the like, that are explicitly designed to present and educate about the fossil record
• Scientific papers and the news articles about them
• Things which are vaguely like fossil organisms but are not actually supposed to be from Earth's prehistoric past or are directly inspired by things from the ancient Earth

You will have to document your example: that is, provide some way that others can see or hear or read about it. This might involving taking photos or scans or screenshot; providing links to YouTube videos; or some other medium that allows someone else to appreciate your find.

You are also expected to examine and interpret your example. You'll need to provide the following information (some of which will require a little online research on your part!):

• The Source: Where did it come from? When was it created? Who created it? (Depending on the item that answer might be a particular individual or a company).
• What is It?: What fossil organism is it supposed to be? Is it supposed to be a particular species, or an amalgam of species? It is some purely fictional creature but specifically intended to be from the prehistoric past? Is it some incredibly generic thing (such as a "dinosaur" but not clearly any particular kind of dinosaur)?
  • A little Internet research can help here sometimes. It might not be obvious from the item as portrayed in its final form, but you can sometimes find interviews with the creators where they explain how they came up with that idea/character/design/etc.
• Meaning: Why did they creators use a fossil organism for this? Is there a particular message they are trying to convey? (Almost certainly the case in an advertisement or political cartoon, for instance!!) What audience do you think the creators were aiming for?

There will be space to upload your answers to these questions (as well as sources for your research, if any) on ELMS under "Pop Culture Report".

This project is due by Discussion Section on April 17.

On April 17, 24 and May 1 you will be presenting your examples in class (in order to be announced by your TAs). These presentations will be brief (approximately 3 minutes). In these presentations you will present a PowerPoint to show images of your example (pictures, screenshots, etc.), and you will give the highlights of your report (source of the example; what it is supposed to be; what is it supposed to mean).

Make sure to upload your PowerPoint file to ELMS under "TA Evaluation of Pop Culture Presentation". If you are presenting using Google Slides, please Download (under "File") your presentation as a PowerPoint file, and upload that file.

To Main Syllabus

Last modified: 6 April 2023