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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Old Is Illinois?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers use fossils found in rocks to determine the age of rock in Illinois. They use a chart to identify the fossils and then identify the periods of rock.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Back to the Past

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

What is a Fossil?

For Teachers K - 4th
Students determine what a fossil is and distinguish between body fossils and trace fossils. They examine pictures of fossils and determine which represents a trace or body fossil.
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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

Science: Fossil of a Carbonized Plant

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students classify leaves by shape and margins and use them to create models of plant fossils. By using paper over a leaf, they simulate fossilization of organisms onto sedimentary rocks. Following instructions on worksheets, students...
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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

Relative Dating - Telling Time Using Fossils

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Learners use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

LESSON PLANS (print version) pdf What is a Fossil?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

When Dinosaurs Ruled The World

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Learners discover how a paleontologist digs up fossils and what tools they use.  In this paleontology lesson plan, students discuss the importance of the job of a paleontologist, watch a video on the process of extracting fossils, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Digging into the Past

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students discover how fossils are found and how they help scientists reconstruct the past. They examine how they shed light on what kinds of animals and plants lived over the years, when they lived, and under what environmental conditions.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Vocabulary Words of the Southwest

For Students 4th - 6th
A simple vocabulary definition worksheet has young geographers of the Southwest putting term meanings into their own words. The fifteen words include (but are not limited to) adobe, butte, canyon, economy, erode, fossil, and landform....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dino Fossils

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Primary paleontologists discover the information they can gather from examining fossils. They place pictures in the correct sequence showing how an animal becomes a fossil. They discuss which sediments would preserve fossils better as well.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Make a Cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex Fossil

For Teachers 2nd
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Investigation 1 - Identify & Compare Fossils

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders examine different items to see if they can recognize fossils. This be an introduction to the different fossils they be studying later and help them make inferences about past environments of Utah.
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Lesson Plan
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Studying Fossils

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Students study the Evolution in the Light of Fossils. Activities in this lesson range from quantitative measurements of hominoid skulls to the comparison of hominoid bone structures. They hypothesize dinosaur size and speed by looking at...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Down Home Dinosaurs

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
students participate in hands-on activities to discover the different types of fossils. Using teacher-provided materials, they make models of cast and trace fossils. After writing essays describing how traces are formed, students plan a...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

The Earliest Primates

For Students 7th - 12th
For this early primate worksheet, students will read information about the fossil evidence of the earliest primates. Students will complete 3 short answer questions based on their reading.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Correlation And Strata: Findasaurus

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students use fossils to correlate and locate the correct strata, and determine where in those strata dinosaurs might be found. They see it is now possible to see how dinosaur fossils can be traced from one place to another.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Geologic Time

For Students 9th - 12th
In this geologic time worksheet, students review how fossils were formed and the events that mark the various geological eras and periods. This worksheet has 10 fill in the blank and 9 short answer questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tracing the Origins of Man

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students discuss Hominid evolution through various websites and other resources. They examine online fossil skulls, discuss the use of tools by ancient man, and look for examples of sophisticated tools built by man.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Footsteps

For Teachers 4th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dino Traces

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars are introduced to the type of evidence that is found at a typical dinosaur dig. They create rubbing casts of bone impressions on paper and, using bones, identify dinosaurs.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Beyond Fossil Fuels

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students can benefit from an education on renewable energy.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Studying Fossils

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students hypothesize dinosaur size and speed by looking at dinosaur track way or by measuring a dinosaur models water displacement. In addition, techniques to help students become familiar with the ways paleontologists study fossils can...