Handout
Indiana University

Indiana Univ. Bloomington: Reference Documents: Common Fossils of Indiana [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
A fact card describing five fossils common to Indiana.
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Humanity on the Record

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about prehistoric evolution of the human race. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Lesson Plan
Climate Literacy

Clean: A Fossil Thermometer

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this activity, students calculate temperatures during a time in the geologic record when rapid warming occurred using a well known method called 'leaf-margin analysis.' Students determine the percentage of the species that have leaves...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Discovery Education: The Fossil Record

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson plan explores the fossils of animals that lived in the ancient oceans such as in the area now known as the Burgess Shale in the western Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Website
Other

Virtual Fossil Museum: Fossils Across Geological Time and Evolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about fossils throughout geological time. Includes images of different types of fossils.
Whiteboard
ClassFlow

Class Flow: Fossil Formation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
[Free Registration/Login Required] A flipchart recording the process of fossilization using a marine vertebrate, an ichthyosaur as an example. Not highly, interactive, but there is a flow chart for students to complete.
Activity
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Paleotopia: Windows to the Past

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A link to a website that contains teacher materials for a game that reinforces the concepts learned about fossils. Students can understand how the record of life on Earth is revealed by fossils as they become paleontologist in this game...
Graphic
University of California

Ucmp: Fossil Record

For Students 9th - 10th
Charts when certain species of plants first appeared.
Article
American Geosciences Institute

American Geosciences Institute: What Can We Tell From the Fossil Record?

For Students 3rd - 8th
Find out what the fossil record tells scientists about the geologic and biological history of the Earth.
Lesson Plan
Other

American Coal Foundation: Lesson Plan: Coal Formation

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
In this four-part lesson, young scholars will conduct a simulation of the coal formation process and will show the ability to do scientific inquiry. For the final project, they will use their findings they have recorded on their "Coal...
Unit Plan
BBC

Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: Evolution Aqa

For Students 9th - 10th
Evolution is the change of inherited characteristics within a population over time through natural selection, which may result in the formation of a new species. Fossils provide a record of organisms that lived a long time ago. They also...
PPT
University of California

Ucmp: Paleoecology

For Students 3rd - 8th
This engaging presentation gives examples of insights gained throught the science of paleoecology. Examples are provided that show how paleoecologists use fossils to determine past climates, ecosystem changes and interactions between...
Interactive
Other

Young Geologist

For Students 9th - 10th
Pick from among twelve fossils to learn more about what kind of animal they were and how long ago they lived.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Biology: History of Life

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] This comprehensive lesson by CK-12 explains how scientists learn about the past by examining and dating fossils.
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Chondrichthyes Fossil Record

For Students 9th - 10th
This Berkeley site offers a great overview of when the class appears in the fossil record.
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Cnidarian Fossil Records

For Students 9th - 10th
At this University of California, Berkeley site you can find out far back the Cnidarians show up in Fossil records. Also, find out how much they have changed over time! Be sure to click on the highlighted words to go to other interesting...
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Aves: Fossil Record

For Students 9th - 10th
A very good article on the fossil evidence and the prominent theory on the evolution of birds. Addresses both sides and presents information. Predominently agrees with the pro-dinosaurian point of view.
Graphic
University of California

Ucmp: Uc Museum of Paleontology/ Fossil Records of Porifera

For Students 9th - 10th
Takes a look at the fossils of sponges, and describes what they mean in terms of evolution.
Lesson Plan
Indiana University

Ensi: The Great Fossil Find Lesson Plan

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students hear a story as they "find" bones that you have put in an envelope for them. Their job is to begin assembling the bones as best they can. The students will invariably come up with different configurations--just like scientists...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Inferring Ancient Environments From Fossil Foraminifera

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This student activity demonstrates how foraminifera can be used to infer characteristics of ancient environments.
Handout
Other

Fossil Record

For Students 9th - 10th
This effective site traces the history of modern man from his early ancestors (Australopithecus Afarensis) to Homo Sapiens sapiens.
Website
Other

University of California Museum of Paleontology: Paleontology Portal

For Students 9th - 10th
Portal of the University of California Museum of Paleontology provides access to the museum's extensive research resources and fossil holdings. Includes career preparation advice for future paleontologists and a series of links to...
Interactive
Other

Illinois State Museum: Mazon Creek Collection Database

For Students 9th - 10th
Mazon Creek fossils are named for the collecting area in northeastern Illinois where many of the best specimens are found. They are an important source of information about the plants and animals that inhabited this part of North America...
PPT
Other

Western Oregon University: Earth System Science: Geologic Time [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
An 81-page slideshow that looks at the principles of geology with respect to relative dating, at different concepts describing geological processes, at absolute age and radiometric dating, at the eons and eras in the geologic time scale,...