The PaleoLab is currently responsible for eigth courses given at the FFCLRP-USP, five for BSc in Biology ("Geology", "Paleontology", "Paleobiology", "Historical Geology", and "Basal Tetrapods" - links in portuguese) and three for PhD and MSc candidates of the Comparative Biology Program ("Systematic paleontology and macroevolution of tetrapods"; "Comparative Osteology of Tetrapods", and "Analytical tools on Comparative Biology"). In addition, team members contribute in a regular basis for the undergrad courses "Field Biology" and "Seminários Integrados em Biologia I", and to the graduation course "Basic Comparative Biology".
Field trips:
Field trips are part of tree of the courses more directly related to the Lab. The "Geology" course includes a two-day trip to the areas of Itu, Rio Claro, and Araraquara, São Paulo state, where classic exposures of the Permo-Carboniferous and Juro-Cretaceous sequences of the Paraná Basin are visited. As a part of the "Palaeontology" course, a tree-day field trip is conducted to the areas of Jaguariaíva and Ponta Grossa, Paraná state, where Devonian and Carbonifeours rocks are studied, and dug for fossils. In this trip, the state parks of Vila Velha and Guartelá are also visited. The "Systematic paleontology and macroevolution of tetrapods" course includes a five-day field work to the Serra do Cadeado, Paraná state, where Permian fossil of the Rio do Rasto Formation are collected.
At the same time, academic institutions, aside from its preserving, researching and professional formation, must also disseminate scientific knowledge through environmental preserving issues. Thus, academic institutions should be a linking environment between science and the society. To answer the public and private schools and the community requests it was suggested by the Laboratório de Paleontologia of the FFCLRP/USP, under the responsibility of Prof. Annie Schmaltz Hsiou, in partnership with the Laboratório de Biologia Evolutiva of the Biology Department of FCAV-UNESP, the "Oficina de Paleontologia: os fósseis dentro da sala de aula" project ("Paleontology Workshop: the fossils inside the classroom"). This project will be developed in a workshop format, specially directed to the Brazilian Sciences, Biology, History and Geography teachers, which will be turned into the multipliers of the paleontological and patrimonial knowledge inside their classes. We hope that this Workshop, besides promoting the understanding of the evolution of living things through time, can help to elucidate teacher's frequent questions concerning Paleontology. Furthermore, through environmental education, we hope to show that the preservation of fossils is extremely important because it is attached to conservation programs of fossil and other issues in the society, as well as to the scientific research.
