Fossils Teacher Resources

If you carefully observe populations with short life cycles, you can observe natural selection happening. The video explains what natural selection is, how scientists theorized it, and how science proves the concept. It highlights the...

A short video offers a simple, yet engaging, explanation of the theory of evolution using amoebas as an example. The narrator uses the example of the evolution of dog breeds as an example of how humans can influence the course of change.

In 1982, a Far Side comic referenced the thagomizer, and now thagomizer remains the appropriate term used by the Smithsonian, BBC, and scientists. An engaging video explains why stegosaurs are unique, focusing on the tiny brains,...

How efficient is a motor in a LEGO set? Future engineers conduct an activity where a LEGO motor-generator system raises an object to a specified height. They then show what they learned and use their measurements to calculate the energy...

What makes you human? Bipedality, tool use, and large brains, of course! Scholars learn about the early evolution of humans by watching a video. Scientists explain the challenges in studying early humans and the information gleaned from...

Without the greenhouse effect, Earth's temperature would be approximately 30 degrees Celsius colder. Scientists know this to be the case based on the study of other planets and the way gases absorb radiation. Viewers connect the ideas...

Go for a ride on the continental drift. A video animation shows the movement of land over a period of 200 million years. The lesson instructor explains the shift during the animation and gives pupils a unique viewing perspective to...

Here's a workshop for teachers that rocks the academic world! Using earthquakes as a medium for instruction, educators learn about crosscutting engineering with science. Fun, hands-on, collaborative exercises encourage participants to...

Nuclear energy powers the Mars rovers as well as provides energy in more than 30 countries around the world. While some believe nuclear energy is the future of energy production, others worry about the risk factors and radioactive waste....

A math model is a good model. A slide show presents 10 sample items on modeling and data analysis. Items from Smarter Balanced illustrate different ways that Claim 4 may be assessed on the 8th grade math assessment. The presentation is...

Ginkgo trees existed for more than 350 million years, and, at this time, only one species still remains. While plant diversity generally increases over geologic time, some interesting exceptions occur. Young scientists learn about plant...

Octopodes existed for hundreds of thousands of years before humans, yet our eyes share many similarities. Scholars analyze the evidence to determine if the evolution of eyes best fits a homology or analogy model. They discuss the issue...

Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an...

Rising sea levels, strong storms, melting ice ... who or what is to blame? Scholars browse the website in preparation for a class discussion or debate about whether human activity is causing climate change. They gain a balanced...

Not all hearts are the same, but their functions are similar. An instructor discusses the origin of the first organisms with a heart in a video lesson from the PBS Eons series. The lesson includes discussion of the evolution of the...

Which characteristics make organisms unique? Dichotomous keys simplify the process of classifying organisms by focusing on these unique characteristics. Young scholars learn how to use the dichotomous key flow chart by creating their own...