Sitting here with my windows open listening to the tree frogs, I have been reflecting on my time at the museum this week. Every day there seems to be something new to experience. This week we learned how to 3D scan a specimen. Our mentor, Dr. Gates chose a megalodon tooth and showed us how to pick up details on the tooth including any cracks or defects with the scanner. We had trouble getting the scanner to see the denticles on the tooth. Those are the serrations or bumps on the sides of the tooth, like the tiger tooth below. When we had done what we could to scan the delicate serrations then the computer began to have trouble putting the picture together into a coherent whole. Dr. Gates is going to work on it and he has been given permission to make a 3D copy of the tooth with a 3D printer for us.

Next week we are taking a “field trip” to Aurora to the phosphate mine to collect our own samples of fossils to use in our classes. I’m really looking forward to the experience of collecting my own samples.

tiger shark tooth

Dr. Bucky Gates, my mentor, and me.