Education


The Friends of Big Bone has made significant headway in promoting awareness and education about Big Bone Lick.

With the assistance of a grant from Boone County Fiscal Court, FOBB is nearing completion of a comprehensive bibliography and database of every written and recorded reference pertaining to Big Bone Lick. This resource will continue to be updated regularly.

-FOBB played a significant role in the Bicentennial Commemoration of the Eastern Legacy of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. FOBB also showed the importance of Big Bone Lick to scientists, philosophers, and explorers of the day. Because of the dedicated work of FOBB, Big Bone Lick was designated as one of only four official Eastern Legacy sites on the Lewis and Clark trail, east of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.

-FOBB partnered with the Ohio River Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation to purchase and install a commemorative Kentucky Historic Highway marker from the Kentucky Historical Society.

-Numerous fundraising activities and programs have enabled FOBB to develop three traveling “Educational Packages” for teachers and schools. These units include lesson plans, written materials, artifacts, and show-and-tell items for students to learn about Big Bone Lick and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Additional educational projects and plans will be the focus of FOBB for the future, with fundraising activities to support and sustain these endeavors.

The Cincinnati Museum Center has recently launched their Vertebrate Paleontology website featuring on-line exhibits related to the history of the paleontological discovery and vertebrate evolution. Their first offering is a discussion of Big Bone Lick, the first well documented fossil locality in the Western Hemisphere.

Educational Package

The Friends of Big Bone have created two educational packages for use in a classroom setting. Both curriculums tie together several disciplines and the prehistoric and historic lives of animals and humans at Big Bone Lick. The lessons also engage students with hands-on activities that lead to an understanding of why animals and humans have sought out the salt springs for thousands of years.

Friends of Big Bone education packages meet all KERA standards for classroom use. Current units of study are:

From Big Bone Lick to the Pacific Ocean: Following the Trail of Lewis and Clark funded by the Friends of Big Bone

Mary Ingles : Among the Bones: funded by the Friends of Big Bone.

A third educational package, which also follows the same curriculum design, includes a chapter on the Big Bone Lick Area. This package was created through and by the Boone County Historic Preservation Review Board.

Boone County: River Born, Kentucky Bred: a fourth grade curriculum funded by the Boone County Fiscal Court and the Kentucky Heritage Council

Make Your Own Mastodon

createamastadonThe “Make Your Own Mastodon” is an example of one of our hands-on activities. Download the file and create your own Mastodon cut-out.