How Shark Tooth Forensics Connects Classrooms To Ancient Oceans

Imagine holding a piece of ancient history in your hands — a fossilized shark tooth, sharp and rugged from eons past, once used by one of the fiercest predators to roam our oceans. This is the promise of Shark Tooth Forensics, a project designed to connect K-12 classrooms to marine paleontology.

Participatory science is redefining how scientific research is conducted, making it more inclusive and collaborative than ever. Known for involving volunteers in data collection, the approach now extends to nearly every scientific field. Increasingly, educators and researchers are using this model to engage public school students, a group uniquely suited to contribute to real-world science while benefiting from the educational experience.

The STF project was developed as part of the NSF-funded Students Discover initiative, which brings scientists and educators together to create participatory science opportunities for classrooms. It sets out to answer a deceptively simple question: “What was the ecology of ancient sharks?” A question that is accessible enough to spark curiosity in students, yet comprehensive enough to support decades of research. Unlike studying living sharks, paleontology relies on indirect evidence. Researchers must interpret ecosystems based on fossilized remains and the sedimentary layers in which they are found. Shark teeth are especially valuable for this purpose. Their abundance and durability make them a treasure trove of information about past environments. However, uncovering patterns in ancient shark populations and their ecological roles requires vast amounts of data, which is where participatory science becomes essential.

The process for STF begins with collecting sediment from fossil-rich localities, primarily along the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the USA and select sites in southwest Africa. Sediments are processed through a series of screens to concentrate the fossil material, which is then shipped to participating schools. Once in the classroom, students take on the role of paleontologists, carefully sifting through to discover and document fossils in a shared database. Each tooth is measured, assessed for completeness and edge wear, and classified by general shape. These details offer invaluable insights for identifying patterns in shark populations, such as which species coexisted, their feeding behaviors, and how these changed over time. Teachers also received a comprehensive lesson pack divided into a standardized data collection protocol and optional activities tailored to diverse learning objectives. These activities connected shark tooth analysis to broader curricula, including statistics, geometry, and ecology. For example, students might calculate the ratios of tooth dimensions, explore geometric properties of triangles, or hypothesize about prehistoric shark nurseries based on tooth size distributions!

Shark Tooth Forensics builds on the success of earlier participatory science projects, such as Shark Finders and Mastodon Matrix. And STF wanted to ensure the accuracy of data collected by students. To evaluate this, researchers conducted statistical analyses on measurements taken by middle school students and compared them to those of trained undergraduate staff at NC State. Using a sample of 1,699 student-measured teeth and 214 additional teeth, t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests confirmed that students’ measurements were statistically indistinguishable from those of trained researchers, provided classroom sizes were sufficient. Interestingly, variability in measurements decreased as more students contributed data, stabilizing with a class size of around 10. Students proved adept at discovering not just the typical triangular-shaped teeth but also rarer forms, such as those with accessory cusplets or unusual cusp and root shapes.

Of course, the project is not without its challenges. Coordinating the collection, preparation, and distribution of fossil-rich sediment requires significant logistical effort. Ensuring consistency in data recording across diverse classrooms is another hurdle. However, the benefits far outweigh these obstacles. The project has already yielded valuable data that contribute to our understanding of ancient shark ecology, and its long-term potential is immense. For the scientific community, STF represents a scalable model for leveraging citizen science to address complex research questions.

As participatory science continues to evolve, projects like Shark Tooth Forensics are a powerful example of successful collaboration between scientists, educators, and students. By putting real research into the hands of young learners, we are not only advancing scientific knowledge but also inspiring the next generation to carry the torch of discovery.