[Fwd: Paleontologist needed for educational laser disk]

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

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Now don't all jump on this person at once....
I found this on sci.bio.paleontology on Sunday eve

-Betty 
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From: nmsiegel@aol.com (NMSiegel)
Newsgroups: sci.bio.paleontology
Subject: Paleontologist needed for educational laser disk
Date: 14 Jan 1996 22:08:50 -0500
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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If you are a paleontologist, expert on the dinosaur-bird connection, and
interested in appearing in an 8 to 10 minute educational piece about
evolution, please read on (and if you know someone you might suggest,
please read on as well).

I am helping to produce a series of laser disks for high school biology
students.  The idea of the series, for Prentice Hall,  is to get students
excited about biology by showing them there are real-life connections to
it.  For example, for the introductory unit that explores the question
"What is biology?", we will learn about Florida coral reefs by meeting a
marine biologist who literally epoxies broken reefs back together after
boats hit them.  Through this person's work we will learn about the
different levels of biology, and why what we do to the environment
matters.   

The disks will go into classrooms with textbooks, and are meant to
complement them, to get students excited about reading what's inside. 
Each disk will be a half-hour long, and will consist of an 8-10 minute
"unit openner", 2 to 3 shorter (3 to 5) minute pieces, and some animation.

For a unit on evolution, we want to do a story about the dinosaur-bird
connection.  (While many of you are apparently tired of this subject, we
think high school students will be surprised and even fascinated.  None of
us are paleontology experts, so if you have another suggestion, by all
means pass it on.)
The ideal story would involve meeting a paleontologist, going to a dig (in
the U.S. or somewhere close - does not have to be a bird site (are there
any?)), going back to the lab or office and inspecting fossils, learning
about cladistics (perhaps via computer or perhaps by drawing on a chalk
board, looking at dinosaur-bird ancestors, and perhaps meeting an artist
who works with the paleontologist to imagine what the ancestors of modern
day birds must have looked like.  We could do any or all of these things
plus anything else you might suggest as long as it teaches the viewer
about evolution in a fun and intelligent way.

The production company I work with is called Terra Associates.  We're
based in New York and produce a lot of educational videos, laser disks,
and CD-ROMs.  The owners of the company come from Children's Television
Workshop (CTW), mainly from "3-2-1 Contact", Unicef, and years of
documentary and news production.

Although we plan to shoot anywhere between March and June, I need to find
our person/people as soon as possible - I'm sure you're all familiar with
that old deadline thing.  So please be in touch as soon as you can. 
Contact me by email (nmsiegel@aol.com) or by phone (212) 226-3170 and I
will be happy to go into further detail about the project and what's
involved.  Thanks.


Nancy Siegel
Terra Associates
588 Broadway, Suite 804
New York, NY  10012
(212) 226-3170
(212) 226-2561 (fax)
nmsiegel@aol.com



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