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Geologic Age
Students investigate rocks. In this geologic age lesson, students conduct an experiment to determine absolute age as one would for rock layers. Students graph data and problem solve using results.
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Archaeology and Prehistoric Native Americans
Students study the terms paleontology and archaeology and examine how they can help us learn about prehistoric Native Iowans. In this archaeology lesson plan students discuss these terms and view a video on Native Americans.
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Practicing Paleontology
In this paleontology activity, students use newspaper, fossils, a ruler, and more to discover what is inside a fossil. Students then answer 4 questions about their activity.
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Poisonous Dinosaur
In this dinosaur worksheet, students read about the debate concerning the evidence for dinosaurs with poisonous saliva. Then students complete 4 short answer questions.
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What Do Fossils Tell About the Past?
In this fossils worksheet, students compare characteristics of fossils with living organisms currently found on the earth. This worksheet is a graphic organizer.
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Dinosaurs Before Dark
In this paleontology matching worksheet, students match clues related to dinosaurs to scrambled words. Twelve words and clues are given.
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Dinosaur Daze
Students review, create, and inquire about dinosaurs, the fossilization process, and paleontology by successfully completing each of six classroom stations.
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Chesapeake Bay Fossils/Geology
Students define and investigate paleontology, research geological history of the Chesapeake Bay, review geological time line, and identify fossils of the Chesapeake Bay.
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White Glue Fossils: Casts, Molds, and Impressions
Students make impressions and molds in clay and them make casts with glue. After the glue dries students remove their fossils.
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Types of Dinosaurs
Learners complete puzzles of dinosaurs. They compare each piece of the puzzle to a fossil and simulate a scientist's role in learning about dinosaurs.
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Fossils
Students act as paleontologists to discover who a mystery guest to the classroom was. They do not know the identity of the guest but infer the identity from items left behind in the classroom. They make inferences from dinosaur fossils.
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Branches of Science
In this science instructional activity, students locate and identify the various branches of science as they are named. There are 36 words/phrases located in the puzzle.
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Excavation Dig
Learners engage in a role-play of a dinosaur excavation dig. They dig through sand to locate buried bones and then discuss the ethics of destroying buildings and other property to get at the fossil remains.
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Dig This
Fifth graders explore the work of paleontologists and the life of dinosaurs and create a sculpture of the bones of a Stegosaurus. The sculpture was then buried and used by other classes for a dig.
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Introduction to Paleontology Lab
Students engage in a lab which introduces them to fossils and paleontology. They examine eleven numbered boxes containing fossils which are related to the questions on this lab then answer questions on a lab sheet imbedded in this plan.
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Dino Traces
Students 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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Can You Dig It?
Students investigate a fossil site and diagram a site map. They role play as paleontologists.
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Be a Paleontologist
Learners search for fossils in a simulated archeology site and explore how paleontologists mark out a dig site.
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Where Can I See The Sea?
Students see how the pieces of the fossil puzzle fit together to allow the paleontologist to imagine the earth as it was millions of years ago. They draw a map showing what environments were present in a certain area more than 70 million...