Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils!

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students explore what fossils are, how they are formed, what different types there are and why they are significant to both our present and past geology history. They participate in a hands on fossil observation of their choice and...
Lesson Plan
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Fossil Formation

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A fossil is worth a thousand words! Individuals craft their own amber fossil of an insect in addition to molds and casts of seashells. A third activity takes the instructional activity a notch higher: Learners measure stride lengths...
Lesson Plan
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Making Fossils

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders examine the differences between cast and mold fossils. They discuss geological time and how many fossils are millions of years old, then create a cast fossil using clay and a shell, and a mold fossil using a shell and...
Lesson Plan
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ACTIVITY 6: MAKE A FOSSIL MOLD AND CAST and ACTIVITY 7: HOW BIG WERE PREHISTORIC ANIMALS?

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Instructions for two terrific ancient history lessons for your primary paleontologists are provided in this resource. The first involves the creation of fossil cast replicas using plaster of Paris. The directions are detailed, but the...
Lesson Plan
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Faux Fossil Fun

For Teachers K - 8th
Elementary schoolers investigate how fossils are created by reproducing the process of creating an impression and filling it with a hardening material. The art lessons from this source are just fantastic! The lesson plan is well-written...
Lesson Plan
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What are the Different Kinds of Fossils?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine different types of fossils. In this fossil activity, students investigate the attributes of mold fossils, trace fossils, cast fossils, and true form fossils. Students create their own fossil samples.
Lesson Plan
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Fossil Adventure

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students create a book about the process of a dinosaur becoming a fossil.  In this earth science lesson, students are taught about fossils and create a book that tells what happened to a dinosaur's bones after they die.
Lesson Plan
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Fossils and our Past (part 1 of 3)

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders investigate how some extinct organisms resemble organisms that are still alive today. They watch and discuss the Magic School Bus video about fossils, then create clay fossil imprints, matching the imprints to plaster of...
Lesson Plan
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Identifying Fossils

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Learners create model fossils.  For this fossils lesson, students view pictures of fossils and compare and contrast these fossils.  Learners read about fossils and create a database chart with the facts they learn. ...
Lesson Plan
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Fossil Impressions of Ancient Life

For Teachers K - 6th
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. (
Lesson Plan
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Candle-Wax Fossils: Casts, Molds, and Impressions

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students examine and define fossils. They create their own impressions and molds in clay and candle wax, making external and internal molds.
Lesson Plan
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What Do We Learn From Fossils?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students investigate what a fossil is and how it came to be.  In this fossil lesson, students examine pictures of skeletons and identify characteristics that can and cannot be determined by a fossil.  Students complete diagrams...
Lesson Plan
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Fossil Adventure

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students work as a class to write a general definition of fossil based on their discussion and examine pictures of the different types of fossils. Once discussion is complete, they write and illustrate a book about a T Rex that has died...
Lesson Plan
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White Glue Fossils: Casts, Molds, and Impressions

For Teachers 2nd - 8th
Students make impressions and molds in clay and them make casts with glue. After the glue dries students remove their fossils.
Lesson Plan
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Back to the Past

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students label fossil imprints. In this Geology lesson, students view fossil imprints of several items. Students explain what a fossil is.
Lesson Plan
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DinoWorks

For Teachers 1st - 4th
DinoWorks is a paleontolgy kit that you can order from skullduggery.com. This resource has directions that come with it. Primary paleontolgists examine bone replicas of the Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus, and Triceratops that you prepare...
Lesson Plan
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Earth's History

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders investigate how fossils are formed. They analyze a photo of the Grand Canyon, and create a fossil cast and mold using plaster of paris and shells.
Lesson Plan
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Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders do 5 different lab stations to explore rocks, minerals, and fossils.
Lesson Plan
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Fossils

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students discuss the work of a paleontologist and examine several fossils and books on paleontology. They use clay and Plaster of Paris to create a cast of an object and compare this activity to the formation of fossils in nature.
Lesson Plan
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Mold It

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students make molds of various items of their choosing using the Molt-It kit. They discuss the scientific value of making molds.
Lesson Plan
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Make a Cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex Fossil

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders examine the formation of fossils and list the different types. They make cast model of a dinosaur fossil. They write about conditions that are necessary for fossils to form and create a model of a buried fossil.
Lesson Plan
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Fossilworks

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars research fossils and fossil formation. They explain how fossils are formed, identify fossil formations and use casting plaster to produce fossil replicas.
Lesson Plan
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Earth's History

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders study the law of superposition by creating models of fossils in layers of rock. They examine how fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock which leads to the study of geologic history in those rocks.
Lesson Plan
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Investigation 4 - Dinosaurs Tracks

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders make inferences and interpretations from sets of dinosaur tracks. They describe Utah fossils and how they were formed. Partners trade their sketches of tracks and try to guess which dinosaur it belonged to.