Curated OER
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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What Are Fossils?
In this fossils worksheet, students will review the 4 steps necessary to create a fossil. Students will fill in the blank of 4 statements in this graphic organizer.
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Geology- Gemstones, Fossils and Rocks Quiz
In this earth science quiz worksheet, students answer 10 fill-in-the-blank questions about gemstones, fossils, and rocks. They see pictures of rocks, minerals, and a dinosaur fossil on the page. They check their answers with the word...
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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...
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Books for Teaching Dinosaurs
Students investigate dinosaurs through books. For this lesson about dinosaurs, students read a variety of books about dinosaurs. Students become familiar with dinosaurs through reading about them. Students learn that reading is...
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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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Dinosaurs
Students will develop goals for inquiry. They will also improve content area reading and research skills. The context of studying dinosaurs will help learners to distinguish from organisms that live presently and those from the past...
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Fossil Hunters!
Students explore the various ways in which geologists create fossil records. Working in pairs, students create a model of a fossil record through a hands on activity. They relate their experience to recent discoveries in geology and...
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Fossil Adventure
Students create a book about the process of a dinosaur becoming a fossil. In this earth science lesson, students are taught about fossils and create a book that tells what happened to a dinosaur's bones after they die.
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What Do We Learn From Fossils?
Students investigate what a fossil is and how it came to be. In this fossil instructional activity, students examine pictures of skeletons and identify characteristics that can and cannot be determined by a fossil. Students...
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Creating New Forms of Life
Although not particularly educational, here is a creative group activity in which high school biologists will use their imaginations to create a new life form combining characteristics from existing life forms. Each group must come up...
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Fossil Footsteps
Fourth graders create their own dinosaur tracks using clay. In addition, 4th graders compose a story about the dinosaur / animal who created the tracks. They study photographs of dinosaur tracks before beginning.
American Museum of Natural History
Layer of Time
Dig through the layers for a better understanding of fossils. Scholars learn that fossils form in layers of sedimentary rock. Pupils arrange virtual layers to show the fossil record of different species. Once the layers are correct, they...
American Museum of Natural History
Mesozoic Museum
Mini museum curators create an exhibit that showcases the Mesozoic era. Pupils use their knowledge of dinosaurs to make informative posters, drawings, and dioramas. Following three steps to complete the hands-on activity, scholars read...
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What We Know About Dinosaurs?
Third graders determine what can and cannot be learned from fossils. In this fossils lesson, 3rd graders discuss what can and cannot be learned from fossils, then students create and observe their fossils.
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Dinosaur Daze
Students review, create, and inquire about dinosaurs, the fossilization process, and paleontology by successfully completing each of six classroom stations.
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Footprint Detectives: Making Inferences Using Dinosaur Trackways
Students analyze and discuss footprints and dinosaur tracks. They listen to books about paleontologists, create and analyze their own trackways using black paper and chalk, examine the data, and form hypotheses about footprints and...
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What are the Different Kinds of Fossils?
Pupils examine different types of fossils. In this fossil lesson, students investigate the attributes of mold fossils, trace fossils, cast fossils, and true form fossils. Pupils create their own fossil samples.
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Lost World Dinosaurs
Students determine how accurate the dinosaur-makers were in creating realistic dinosaurs for the Jurassic Park ride. They explore how the ride designers are going to top themselves How could the next ride be even better?
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Fossil Evidence for Plate Tectonics
Students draw maps of counties that were important to the discovery of plate tectonic theory. In this plate tectonics lesson students excavate constructed fossil sites from matching coastlines and discuss the possible explanations...
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Make a Cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex Fossil
Second graders examine the formation of fossils and list the different types. They make cast model of a dinosaur fossil. They write about conditions that are necessary for fossils to form and create a model of a buried fossil.
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Dig It!
Second graders complete various activities about dinosaurs and fossils. They conduct Internet research, participate in a sandbox dinosaur fossil dig, and create a computer slideshow presentation using information they found on various...
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Geology
Fourth graders devise a workable inch-to-inch scale for a geologic timeline sequencing the eras covered in the unit. They hypothesize from descriptions of dinosaur fossil evidence.
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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.