Here is an unusual question: How can I become a famous fossil for future generations to examine and adore? It is from this comical perspective that viewers learn how fossilization occurs. Show this for your middle school paleontologists...

An exceptionally creative approach is taken to assessing your biologists' grasp of natural selection concepts. They are to imagine hosting Charles Darwin for dinner and having, to their surpise, a few other noted scientists crash the...

By viewing and reading these slides, your precious paleontologists learn what makes a fossil and what scientists can learn by studying them. Consider giving the website to pupils as homework. They can read the slides, take an assessment...

Begin with an informational text, "Reptiles and Amphibians through the Ages," and then research online about the evolutionary development of a modern frog. Look at drawings of ancestor's skeletons and list the organisms on the geologic...

Students investigate the practice of digging for fossils. They participate in a mock dig of fossils using real bones and other artifacts. Then students dig through sand in order to go through the simulation. Students make observations...

Take your class on an investigation of fossils. Middle schoolers will discover the formation of fossils by using clay to simulate fossils. They will research the stages of fossil development and then draw pictures of their fossil casts...

Here is an excellent cross-curricular lesson. Learners relate multiplication to area by making a grid on graph paper, and then creating the same grid in real space outside in the school yard.

After reading a passage about geological time and fossil evidence, Earth historians write answers to six questions about what they learned. They are also directed to design a board game that would teach players about the geological time...

Explore 1870s when a "bone rush" led to amazing discoveries, as fossil-hunters risked life and limb in their quest for dinosaur remains. The class uses the attached visual encyclopedia to prep for a discussion on early paleontology. Two...

Learners compare and contrast key skeletal differences between chimpanzees and humans: brain size, teeth, hand and thumb, trunk, pelvis, lower limb, foot and big toe. They then sort and group a set of mixed "fossil bones" of chimpanzee...

Students think critically to determine fact or inference when examining sedimentary layers with embedded fossils. They are being introduced to geology as well as evolutionary biology.

Young scholars acquire a general knowledge of fossils and paleontology, the study of evidence of life in the past and identify the major invertebrate groups (phyla) commonly found in the fossil record.

High schoolers go on an imaginary fossil hunt. They follow a script read by the teacher, students "find" (remove from envelope) paper "fossils" of some unknown creature. They attempt to reconstruct fossil pieces into an animal.

This is a truly amazing project. Perfect to use during your next dinosaur unit. Second and fifth graders work together to draw and make a relief sculpture of a nine foot-long stegosaurus. They discuss what paleontologists do and then...

Pupils define and investigate paleontology, research geological history of the Chesapeake Bay, review geological time line, and identify fossils of the Chesapeake Bay.

Students make impressions and molds in clay and them make casts with glue. After the glue dries students remove their fossils.

Casey Gardener takes your class to meet Leonardo, one of the most intact dinosaur mummies ever found. A prominent paleontologist takes you on a tour of the dinosaur's body, showing how fossils and mummies can tell the story of life as it...

Explorer Evan hosts this episode of "Our World" as he describes what a paleontologist does and how NASA helps these scientists work using remote sensing. Perfect for your first through third graders, this five-minute video shows the many...

Students examine the process of fossil removal and the naming of dinosaurs. They participate in a "fossil dig" involving cookies, create new dinosaur names, and create a picture of a dinosaur they name.

Students explore the geological time line. In this inquiry based lesson, students create a time capsule that represents a geological time period. The class will examine the time capsules to determine what time period each represents.

Youngsters examine four fossil replicas and chart their time periods, vertebrate or invertebrate, and the names of other organisms living at the same time. A specific fossil kit is available for sale if you do not have the same samples....

Students work in teams in this Webquest, to conduct research on selected Web sites and then report their findings. In this Evolution WebQuest, specialists (students) gather evidence from the fields of paleontology, anatomy and...

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.

Students investigate a fossil site and diagram a site map. They role play as paleontologists.