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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Footprint Detectives: Making Inferences Using Dinosaur Trackways

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Young scholars 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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Xenosmilus

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students play the roles of paleontologists on a dig. They unearth a few fossils at a time and attempt to reconstruct the animal the fossils represent.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hide and Seek with Bones: A Mapping and Scaling Comparison

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students examine and simulate how paleontologists map objects. They hide and find objects using a grid to map the objects' placements.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The History of Life

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
In this history of life worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by figuring out the vocabulary words associated with the 11 clues given. Then students review how paleontologists use fossils to learn more about past living things...
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Lesson Plan
Project SMART

Dinosaur Trek

For Teachers 2nd
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Fossils

For Teachers K - 5th
Students explore fossils. In this fossils geology lesson, students use tools to reveal embedded "fossils" (made with plaster of Paris by the teacher-instructions included), then describe and illustrate their findings.
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Interactive
Scholastic

Study Jams! Fossils

For Students 4th - 8th Standards
By viewing and reading these slides, your precious paleontologists learn what makes a fossil and what scientists can learn by studying them. Consider giving the website to pupils as homework. They can read the slides, take an assessment...
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Activity
It's About Time

The Fossil Record

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What do you call a plated dinosaur when he is asleep? A stego-snorus! Through four hands-on activities, young paleontologists rotate through stattions to learn about preservation in rock, resin, ice, and conservation of animal tracks....
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Lesson Plan
Virginia Department of Education

Evidence of Evolution

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What an impression fossils make! In this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they should...
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Website
American Museum of Natural History

Ask a Scientist About Dinosaurs

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Who doesn't want to know more about the mysterious dinosaurs? Learners read about dinosaurs and the process scientists use to continue learning more about the animals in an interview-type format. A paleontologist responds to submitted...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Fossils

For Students 6th - 12th
Sixteen slides showcase an average day on the job for a paleontologist, Ross MacPhee. Engaging images include world maps and real-world photographs from an archeological dig in Antarctica. A brief description accompanies each slide.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

We Really Dig Archeology and Palentology

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders examine the differences between archeology and paleontology. Using the internet, they explore the tools and techniques used in each field. They must use the correct tools to uncover and record the objects they find. They...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

AP: Chapter 25: Phylogeny and Systematics

For Students 9th - 12th
As a review or note taking guide, this resource wraps up a unit on the tree of life. Biology bigwigs define phylogeny and answer questions about the subsequent classification of organisms. The worksheet takes a straightforward and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Back to the Past

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students label fossil imprints. In this Geology lesson plan, students view fossil imprints of several items. Students explain what a fossil is.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders act as paleontologists and attempt to figure out the environment where various fossils would have existed. They explain how fossils can be used to make inferences about past life, climate, geology, and environments.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Fossils: Clues to Ancient Life

For Teachers 4th - 8th
You can make your students amateur paleontologists with great fossil lesson plans.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dinosaur Traces

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students identify and interpret the type of evidence found at a typical dinosaur dig and mimic a paleontologist by taking crayon rubbings of simulated bone impressions. After the rubbings are taken, the students reconstruct the complete...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Weighing a Dinosaur

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students role play as paleontologists who make inferences about the weight of dinosaurs. They use models and the density of water to make these inferences.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Bringing Dinosaurs Back to Life

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
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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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Race to the South Pole

For Students 6th - 12th
Antarctica was the last continent humans explored. Explore how two teams raced to be the first using an interactive online lesson. Users learn about the climate challenges and how the teams sought to overcome them. The resource is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fabulous Fossils

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students 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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Making Trace Fossils

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore types of fossils and discover how sediment affects fossil preservation. They focus their study on trace fossils and create their own using sediment, water, and a small organism such as a snail or lizard. Students use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

PALEO COOKIE DIG

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students examine a variety of soil samples and then conduct a simulated "dig" in a grid of no-bake cookie bars.

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