Analyzing Ötzi
Fifth-grade students from Cold Spring Harbor Central School District’s Lloyd Harbor Elementary School took part in a field trip to Cold Spring Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center’s Human Inheritance exhibition featuring Ötzi the Iceman on Jan. 6.
Students studied the 3-D replica of the 5,000-year-old mummy and learned how, through analysis of Ötzi’s stomach and intestines, many pollen types were revealed and studied to help scientists learn exactly when Ötzi died.
Under the guidance of DNA Learning Center educator Megan Capobianco, the students studied pollen grains under the microscope and then went on a scavenger hunt, which included skulls dating back 6 million years, bacterial illnesses, eye color, blood type and more. The fifth-graders learned that not only pollen was found in Ötzi’s digestive system but also wild goat, red deer, plants and wheat.
The DNA Learning Center is located at 334 Main St. in Cold Spring Harbor. Upcoming Ötzi the Iceman museum tours for the public include Feb. 8 at 9 a.m. and March 7 at 12:30 p.m. For more information, call 516-367-5170 visit www.dnalc.cshl.edu.
Photos courtesy of Karen Spehler/ CSHSD
