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ACTIVITY 6: MAKE A FOSSIL MOLD AND CAST and ACTIVITY 7: HOW BIG WERE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS?
Instructions for two terrific ancient history lessons for your primary paleontologists are provided in this resource. The first involves the creation of fossil cast replicas using plaster of Paris. The directions are detailed, but the...
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Fossil Formation
A fossil is worth a thousand words! Individuals craft their own amber fossil of an insect in addition to molds and casts of seashells. A third activity takes the lesson a notch higher: Learners measure stride lengths between tracks and...
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Fabulous Fossils
Young scholars investigate how fossils are formed. They read the book, "Digging Up Dinosaurs," examine fossil samples, create a fossil imprint using play-doh, and complete a Fossil Questionnaire activity sheet.
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Join the Dinosaur Age
Students role-play and complete various activities associated with dinosaurs and paleontology. They listen to the book, "Dinosaur Bones," participate in a simulated dig site, explore various websites, sing dinosaur songs, and create clay...
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Study of Fossils
Fifth graders dig for fossils. In this fossil lesson, 5th graders read about the oldest found fossils and discuss the process of fossilization. They dig for their own fossils in a fossil box made of several dirt layers.
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Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life
Students explain how the earth makes fossils and how dinosaur remains become fossils. In this Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life lesson, students solve paleo-puzzles which ask students to solve problems as if they were paleontologists....
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Identifying Fossils
Learners create model fossils. In this fossils lesson, students view pictures of fossils and compare and contrast these fossils. Learners read about fossils and create a database chart with the facts they learn. Students construct...
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Dinosaur Skeletons
Students investigate the anatomy of a dinosaur, describe its skeleton, and arrange pretend bones using toothpicks, popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, and a variety of wooden beads.
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When Dinosaurs Ruled the World
Students create their own fossil. In this fossil lesson, students explore dinosaurs and fossils through reading Fossils Tell of Long Ago by Aliki. Upon completion of the story, students use modeling clay to create a cast.
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Fossil Formation
Students discuss fossils. In this science lesson, students simulate fossils within Earth's layers by using gummy fish and bread.
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LESSON PLANS (print version) pdf What is a Fossil?
Students can better explain how mould and cast fossils occur when they make their own cast fossils using plaster of Paris and objects such as shells, bone or even their own hand or footprint.
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What We Know About Dinosaurs?
Third graders determine what can and cannot be learned from fossils. In this fossils instructional activity, 3rd graders discuss what can and cannot be learned from fossils, then students create and observe their fossils.
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Dinosaur Trek
Second graders investigate dinosaurs. They explore various websites, submit questions to a paleontologist online, construct cut and paste model dinosaur skeletons, develop a graph to compare dinosaurs, and label pictures from online...
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Fossil Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Learners draw maps of counties that were important to the discovery of plate tectonic theory. In this plate tectonics instructional activity students excavate constructed fossil sites from matching coastlines and discuss the possible...
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Making Sedimentary Rocks
Learners make models of sedimentary rock layers to explain how rocks form layers and represent ancient environments. Layers of sediment and fossils are added together to simulate the environment and connections to sedimentary rocks are...
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Earth Lesson Plans
Students gain understanding of how a fossil is formed and why they are so important. For this fossil lesson students create their own fossils.
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Fossils
First graders write a brief informational description of a real life object, person, place or event using information gained from observations. They create their own fossil imprints and write a brief description about the fossil that...
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Fossil Impressions of Ancient Life
Students make a mold using Plaster of Paris and then make a cast using that same mold. They pick a fossil and describe how it looks. They write a fictionalized story about its life, or burial. (
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Make a Dinosaur
Students estimate the size of dinosaurs and create a dinosaur model. They create bar graphs of the sizes of dinosaurs one in meters and the other in "student" units. They draw a pictures and add words or sentences about their dinosaur.
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Build-A-Horseshoe Crab
Students discover many facts about horseshoe crabs. Students identify the main body parts of horseshoe crab. They explore the habits of the horseshoe crab and their importances to the ecosystem. Adaptations for younger students are...