The FIPR Institute Education Program staff and teachers who have developed teaching units for the Institute continue to create resources for educator.  They work together to broaden FIPR’s phosphate curriculum and show other teachers how to use phosphate information to enhance lessons.  The new legislation that transformed the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research into a research institute within the University of South Florida Polytechnic also allows them to add non-phosphate topics such as energy to their lessons.

Along with FIPR Institute workshops, mini-grant program and education media center, the Institute’s staff has developed a traveling library of materials and activities to bring phosphate-related topics to life.  The existing resources below are available to current classroom teachers at no cost.  Arrangements can be made for delivery and pick-up.  Watch for additions and feel free to call or email our education staff to see what is available or to make a special request.

Traveling Library Collection includes:

Kids Dig It - The Kids Dig It! traveling library provides the materials and guidance a teacher needs to create a simulated fossil dig in their classroom. The kit includes 6 cubes each with three drawers of real matrix and fossils from the Miocene, Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Dig tools and paleontology reference books are included for 6 groups of students to work together to uncover and identify fossils. A teacher’s curriculum guide offers lesson plans and activities to make geological time more tangible to students as they relate geological events to distance. This kit is a great way to introduce the scientific process skills and provide practice in critical thinking.

Florida's Ancient Oceans - “Florida’s Ancient Oceans” is a role-play that condenses four epochs of geologic time representing a span of 24 million years. Blue cloth “oceans” are moved on top of a canvas map base to outlines that represent the peninsula’s footprint at various points of geologic time. Players responding to climate cues use puppets of animals that inhabited Florida through time to demonstrate animals’ interaction with the habitat. When a habitat changes markedly, animals respond in one of three ways: they flee, they adapt, or they become extinct (but may leave traces of their existence in the fossil record). Kindergarten through high school and adult classes have participated in the role-play before or after using the “Kids Dig It!” fossil kits, while other classes have enjoyed the experience without reference to the kits.

Bird Seed Mining - Mining is a complex process in which relatively small amounts of sometimes valuable (fossil) or useful (phosphate) minerals or metals are extracted from very large masses of rock. This activity will illustrate how this "needle in a haystack" process works.  Students will be able to experience "hands-on" the difficulty that miners face in extracting valuable mineral deposits. They will also learn a simple lesson in economics--a less valuable commodity may be more profitable because it is more abundant. Students will be shown the importance of clean, environmentally conscious mining, and will learn that all mining operations must pay for reclamation work.

Colorimetric Lab Demonstration - High School chemistry students are able to conduct systematic observations as they digest phosphate rock.  This laboratory demonstration gives an overview of Phosphate Chemical Processing and Phosphogypsum in Florida.  Phosphoric acid is produced in this chemical reaction as we as calcium sulfate (gypsum).  Color reagents are used for students to make observation.  Allows students to identify the components of a solution as well as describe the impact of acids and bases as they relate to environmental concerns and industry.

Fossil Imprints - Students are able to learn about theories and understand how scientists collect evidence to support their theories.  Specifically they will learn how fossils impact scientific theories.  This activity teaches students about the three ways fossils are made as well as understand that physical changes can be caused with forces like motion, temperature and pressure.  Students will get the chance to make their own impression fossil.   

GPS Technology and Phosphate Mining - GPS units and digital cameras for intermediate and secondary grades make it possible for students to practice field skills without leaving school grounds. This kit allows students to measure and monitor real-world habitats and environments. GPS units increase spatial awareness as students mark coordinates of a location. Digital cameras allow them to record observations of the points they have marked. Students can map areas, record vegetation, wildlife and any other area characteristics. They can also use the information to create GIS maps.

Ore Body Battleship - This activity simulates the process of prospecting for ore by collecting core samples.   Geologists collect ore samples to determine where phosphate deposits are in an area.  They make a map of the area so that the dragline operators know where to mine.  Draglines are expensive to operate and ore is expensive to process; therefore the geologist must be efficient and accurate when gathering core samples.  Students will learn what an ore mineral is.  They will know why reclamation an important aspect of mining.  Finally, students will be able use math to analyze their data by comparing and ordering numbers to determine if it is economical to mine the area they collected core samples from.

Water Quality Testing - Phosphorous is one of the key elements necessary for growth of plants and animals.  This is especially true in lake ecosystems.  Like nitrate, high levels of phosphorus can lead to overgrowth of plants, increased bacteria, and decreased oxygen levels.  Phosphorous tends to be the growth limiting nutrient.   This activity allows students to test the water in lakes, rivers, ponds, and other freshwater ecosystems.  Most schools have a retention pond where water samples can be taken.  Due to pollution while testing for phosphorus in the water student can also learn about eutrophication.   Students can make connections beyond the classroom and into the communities in which they live.  

The Stuff of Life - This laboratory exercise connects phosphate to the individual student.  Middle and High School students learn about the importance of phosphate in the making of their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as well as how phosphate plays a role in the way living matter provides energy for biochemical reactions in cells.  Students are able to extract and view DNA from their own cells using common household materials. 

Other Traveling Library Activities:

• A Paste with a Taste
• Midas Miners
• Reclamation Rangers
• Rock and Mineral Identification Kits
• A Timeline Rope
• Plant to Reclaim
• Cookie Mining
• Growing Ammonium Phosphate Crystals
• Soil Analysis Testing

Education Material Order Form - Print this form, fill it out and fax or mail it to the address below.

USF Polytechnic - Florida Industrial and Phosphate Research Institute
1855 West Main Street
Bartow, FL 33830
(863) 534-7160 PHONE
(863)534-7165 FAX

To schedule any of these traveling library activities, contact Indira Sukhraj at (863) 534-7160 or at isukhraj@poly.usf.edu