ABSTRACT This field trip focuses on accessible and inclusive design in field-based teaching and learning through a broad investigation of the geology of Arizona, followed by more detailed exercises that focus on the Upper Triassic stratigraphic sequences in Petrified Forest National Park (PEFO). The first day of the field trip will traverse the three physiographic provinces of Arizona, from fault-bounded, basement-cored uplifts and valleys of the Basin and Range in the greater Phoenix area, through the Transition Zone to the Mogollon Rim, and ending in Upper Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Plateau at Holbrook. The second day of the field trip will encompass more detailed, collaborative exercises in PEFO that utilize the expertise of both student and faculty participants in mixed-ability groups. The main priority of this accessible field experience is the development of an inclusive community of learning driven by paired student-faculty interactions, facilitated as needed by technology integration to mitigate barriers and foster engagement, communication, and collaboration across a spectrum of ability and content knowledge. Please note that the collection of archaeological artifacts, fossils, rocks, or other natural history objects without an active research and collection permit is illegal at Petrified Forest National Park. Please refrain from collecting samples or specimens of any kind from anywhere in the park.

Abstract Paleontological resources (fossils) are the remains of life preserved in a geologic context. Fossils may consist of the physical remains of a biological organism such as a tooth, bone, shell, leaf, cone, seed, or wood. Evidence of biological activity may sometimes be preserved in rocks, hence tracks, traces, burrows, coprolites (fossil dung and feces), and nests represent other valuable types of paleontological resources. The fossil record reveals an extremely rich diversity of ancient organisms preserved in the Earth's strata (layers of rock). The fossil record of life on Earth spans nearly every period of geologic history from Precambrian bacteria, billions of years old, to more recent Pleistocene or Holocene cave fossils dating back only a few thousand years. Together, fossils from around the world yield significant scientific and educational information regarding the history of life on Earth. From the moment of death for an organism, a wide array of agents and forces work toward the breakdown and destruction of its physical remains. Raup and Stanley (1978) identify and describe biological, chemical, and mechanical variables associated with the destruction of biological remains. Only a very small percentage of all living organisms become part of the fossil record, and of those, an even smaller percentage have been discovered, collected and studied. The preservation of fossils and the associated biases in the fossil record are directly attributable to the organism's morphologic composition, rate of post-mortem burial, environment of deposition, diagenetic variables, tapho-nomic (after death) factors, and the post-depositional geologic history of