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Fossils: Clues to Ancient Life
You can make your students amateur paleontologists with great fossil lesson plans.
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Fossils
In this fossils instructional activity, students review the different types of fossils including index and trace fossils. This instructional activity has 6 matching and 9 true or false questions.
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Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils
Fourth graders do 5 different lab stations to explore rocks, minerals, and fossils.
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Fossils
Students discuss the work of a paleontologist and examine several fossils and books on paleontology. They use clay and Plaster of Paris to create a cast of an object and compare this activity to the formation of fossils in nature.
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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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Mineral Replacement in Fossil Formation
Fourth graders explore fossils and how they are formed. They create their own "fossils" out of plaster of Paris. They record their findings in their science journals.
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Fossilworks
Students research fossils and fossil formation. They explain how fossils are formed, identify fossil formations and use casting plaster to produce fossil replicas.
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Earth's History
Sixth graders investigate how fossils are formed. They analyze a photo of the Grand Canyon, and create a fossil cast and mold using plaster of paris and shells.
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Earth's History
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.
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Impressions in Clay
Students examine how fossils are created. They make impressions of different objects in clay and compare them to examples of fossils.
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The History of Life
In this Earth's history learning exercise, students will complete 5 true or false questions based on the early history of the Earth. Students will match 7 fossil vocabulary words to their definitions. Students will complete 4 short...
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Geologic Time
In this geologic time instructional activity, students review how fossils were formed and the events that mark the various geological eras and periods. This instructional activity has 10 fill in the blank and 9 short answer questions.
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Do-It-Yourself Fossils
In this fossils worksheet, students create their own casts, molds, imprints, and embedded fossils. Then students complete a fossil comparison chart. This worksheet has 12 fill in the blank questions.
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Collecting Fossils
In this fossils worksheet, students will read about the hobby of fossil collecting and the tools needed for collecting fossils. Students will complete 3 short answer questions based on their reading.
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Making Prehistory
Learners create mock fossil records based on current scientific theories about prehistory. By learning about what fossil records teach us about different prehistoric time periods, students gain a greater understanding of theories of...
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Rockin? Chalk (Integrating science - make own chalk)
Students use plaster of Paris, talc, and cornstarch to create their own chalk. They hypothesize what mixture of ingredients produce the "best" chalk. Students discuss what they think are the characteristics of the "best" chalk.
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"Making a Good Impression"
Students are shown how fossils are formed and to learn how extinct organisms lived based on their remains and surroundings. They are shown TAKS review problems on the overhead related to evolution and fossil evidence. Students discuss...
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Investigation 4 - Dinosaurs Tracks
Fourth graders make inferences and interpretations from sets of dinosaur tracks. They describe Utah fossils and how they were formed. Partners trade their sketches of tracks and try to guess which dinosaur it belonged to.
American Museum of Natural History
A Whale of a Tale
What's the most interesting fact about a blue whale? Learners read an interview about the similarities between the Titanosaur and the blue whale displays at the American Museum of Natural History. Pupils learn not only about blue whales...
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A Volcano Model with Pizzazz
Students create a volcano replica. In this volcano lesson plan, students construct an erupting volcano from a list of materials and instructions. Students read or listen to volcano stories during the eruption.
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Common and Science Names
First graders investigate how dinosaurs are named. They listen to the book "The Littlest Dinosaurs," discuss Greek and Latin words and word parts, identify the word parts and meanings of Triceratops, and create a drawing of a dinosaur...
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Charles Darwin
For this Charles Darwin worksheet, learners fill in the blank with the correct answer. Students use the suggested text to complete statements about Charles Darwin, his expedition, and his development of his theory of evolution.
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Cladograms and Genetics
In this genetics worksheet, students compare the human amino acid sequence with the five animals given. Students used cladograms to complete 11 short answer questions.
Other
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum: Make a Fossil Mold and Cast [Pdf]
For this activity, students will make a fake fossil cast using plaster of Paris. A second activity on comprehending the size of dinosaurs is included in this file.