Curated OER
What Are Fossils?
In this fossils worksheet, students will review the 4 steps necessary to create a fossil. Students will fill in the blank of 4 statements in this graphic organizer.
Curated OER
Women in Science: Dr. Grace Bush
Learn about the study of paleoecology with a resource about Dr. Grace Bush and her contributions to the field. After reading a one-page passage, learners answer comprehension questions and explore their personal interests in different...
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Be a Paleontologist
Students search for fossils in a simulated archeology site and explore how paleontologists mark out a dig site.
Curated OER
Fossil Inferences
Fourth graders use their knowledge about fossils to arrange fossil pictures in sequence from oldest to youngest. They explain how fossils can be used to make inferences about past life, climate, geology, and environments and discover...
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T-Rex
Young scholars examine the differences between a scavenger and a predator. For this predator lesson students research an animal and study its physical traits.
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Draw T. rex
Students explore how scientists determine what prehistoric animals looked like based on their bones. They draw a picture of the skull of a Tyrannosaurus Rex by copying an image from an overhead or book.
Curated OER
Animal Tracks - Walking and Running
Learners, using paper and water, make tracks and record the time needed to make them. They compare tracks made walking and running to determine the speed of the animal.
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Fossil Impressions of Ancient Life
Students make a mold using Plaster of Paris and then make a cast using that same mold. They pick a fossil and describe how it looks. They write a fictionalized story about its life, or burial. (
Curated OER
Digging Into Science Lesson Plans
In this biology worksheet, students identify and write the various species that are still present today. Then they define evolution using three words. Students also describe what a fossil is and give some examples related to a particular...
Curated OER
Fossil Formation Fun
Students compare the three types of fossils: preserved organisms, mineral replacement fossils, and impression fossils. They create a model of amber,
sponge fossil, and make traces of fossil.
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Identifying Fossils
Students create model fossils. In this fossils instructional activity, students view pictures of fossils and compare and contrast these fossils. Students read about fossils and create a database chart with the facts they learn. ...
Curated OER
A Basin Filled With Time
Students use fossil leaves and a mathematical formula to study climate change. For this climate change and fossil lesson plan, students determine the differences in temperatures during two different times during the Cenozoic era using...
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Jurassic Park Debate
Students research behavior, phsyiology, and ecology of dinoaurs. Students role-play as scientific specialists such as geneticists and ecologists. They present their research findings in a research paper.
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Fossil Hunters!
Students explore the various ways in which geologists create fossil records. Working in pairs, students create a model of a fossil record through a hands on activity. They relate their experience to recent discoveries in geology and...
Curated OER
History of the Earth
Students work together in groups to research the characteristics of the Mesozoic Era. Using various sources, they must include information about climate, landforms, plants and animals found during this time period. They create a...
Curated OER
Looking into the Past (Archaeology)
Students discover how to be an archaeologist. In this archaeology instructional activity, students research the basic information about an archaeologist. Students then observe different artifacts and learn what questions to ask in order...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: O Logy: What Do You Know? Dinosaurs
Test knowledge about dinosaurs with this ten question quiz.
PBS
Idaho Ptv: Science Trek: Dinosaurs
A comprehensive overview of dinosaurs. Includes three videos: a half-hour show, a video short, and a short video where an expert answers children's questions. Other features of the site include facts, links, games and activities, a...
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Ology: Paleontology: The Big Dig
A collection of online games, virtual puzzles, experiments, and interviews with experts to immerse students into the world of paleontology.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Dinosaurs: Bambiraptor and Birds
A 14-year-old boy found the fossils of a brand new species of dinosaur--the Bambiraptor. Find out the fun facts about what scientists have discovered about the Bambiraptor and how closely it was related to birds with this resource.
American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History: Ology Quiz: What Do You Know? Paleontology
Test your knowledge of paleontology by taking a quick quiz.
University of California
Ucmp: What Killed the Dinosaurs?
This UC Berkeley site extensively covers the death of the dinosaurs. It includes history, theories, invalid hypotheses, and current arguments.
Virginia Tech
Virginia Polytechnic Institute: Greenhouse Dinosaur Extinction Theory
This comprehensive page discusses the Asteroid Impact vs. Volcano-Greenhouse dinosaur extinction debate. It was written by paleontologist, professor, and scientist Dr. Dewey McLean.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: How a Dinosaur Became a Fossil
This interactive resource adapted from the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley shows how a dinosaur can be buried under sediment after it dies, become a fossil, and then become exposed and discovered by...