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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Past and Present

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students compare fossilized specimens to contemporary specimens. They use a computer and a Proscope Digital USB Microscope to collect and compare images of ferns, sand dollars and sow bugs to those of similar fossilized samples.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Fossil Lab

For Students 8th - 10th
In this fossil activity, students are given fossils and an identification key. They write their scientific names and common names. They also answer questions about fossils.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Life and Geologic Time

For Students 7th - 12th
In this geologic time learning exercise, students will define the difference between eras, periods, and epochs in the geologic time scale. Students will also look at the role of geological events and fossils. This learning exercise has...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Trilobite Masks

For Teachers K - 4th
Students make trilobite masks out of paper plates.
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Website
Other

The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii: A Guide to the Order of Trilobites

For Students 9th - 10th
The trilobite of the months greets you on this award winning site that provides an immense data base of facts on this fascinating but extinct arthropod. Start with the Introduction in the left hand menu bar for easy to understand...
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Handout
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Paleobiology: The Cambrian Period

For Students 9th - 10th
Journey into the past while reading this comprehensive overview of the Cambrian Period that covers topics such as the Cambrian Explosion, Burgess Shale fauna, trilobites, fossil evidence, and climate and plate tectonics.
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Website
Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum, London, England

For Students 9th - 10th
Great site providing a "Quickindex" to find various resources. Also included are links to more information on this museum.
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Article
University of California

Ucmp: Dinosaurs, Movies, & Reality

For Students 9th - 10th
A very good review of how "movie science" can present an inaccurate or incomplete picture of actual scientific knowledge and methods.
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Article
American Institute of Biological Sciences

Action Bioscience: Species, Speciation and the Environment

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Institute of Biological Sciences offers this article by Niles Eldredge, evolutionary theorist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History. Eldredge begins with Darwin's theories and summarizes subsequent thought,...
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Handout
Indiana University

Indiana Univ. Bloomington: Geo Notes: Trilobites: Denizens of Ancient Seas [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Presents some facts about trilobites, extinct arthropods from the Cambrian to Permian Periods.
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Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Introduction to Trilobita

For Students 9th - 10th
One of the most famous fossil organisms, trilobites were once a complex group. Learn to tell them apart in this illustrated article that tells how they lived, their body structure, there place in evolution, and the like.