Abstract
This classroom exercise utilizes a free mobile virtual reality app to introduce students to (1) the process by which paleoanthropologists find and interpret fossils, (2) the importance of two recent hominin fossil finds in the Cradle of Humankind of South Africa, and (3) the variety of science careers that contribute to paleoanthropological research. Before their virtual field trip, learners are introduced to the Homo naledi and Australopithecus sediba discoveries and to some of the researchers from the team through a collection of online resources. In the app, learners explore and find fossils in the Dinaledi Chamber of Rising Star Cave in South Africa, where the first fossils of H. naledi were found. Postexploration analysis and reflection prompts encourage learners to consider how researchers decide how and where to excavate, which skills are needed to study our human origins, and why this research is important.
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