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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Making Trace Fossils

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students explore types of fossils and discover how sediment affects fossil preservation. They focus their study on trace fossils and create their own using sediment, water, and a small organism such as a snail or lizard. Students use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Formation Fun

For Teachers 4th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil History

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learners examine the similarities and differences between living organisms and fossils.  In this fossil activity students reenact the process of creating a fossil.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

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.
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Layer of Time

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Dig through the layers for a better understanding of fossils. Scholars learn that fossils form in layers of sedimentary rock. Pupils arrange virtual layers to show the fossil record of different species. Once the layers are correct, they...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I Dig Dinosaurs

For Teachers K - 5th
Young scholars 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.
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Fighting Dinos

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
A famous fossil of fighting dinosaurs holds as many questions as answers. Scholars first analyze the fossil itself by virtually highlighting the specific bones of the dinosaurs and read about their function and importance. They then test...
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Interactive1:12
American Museum of Natural History

Living Large

For Students 6th - 12th
Get to know all about sauropods from a paleontologist, Jonah. Following an introductory video, scholars choose from five fossils to learn more about. Each fossil begins with a video, provides information from several different...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

What Do You Know About PaleontOLogy?

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Believe it or not, some dinosaurs are not extinct. Discover this and other interesting facts about dinosaurs in a 10-question online quiz. As individuals answer questions, the resource provides them with feedback and additional facts...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Hunters!

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Practicing Paleontology

For Students 2nd - 6th
In this paleontology worksheet, 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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chesapeake Bay Fossils/Geology

For Teachers 5th - 10th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

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.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossils

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
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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Organizer
Curated OER

What Do Fossils Tell About the Past?

For Students 2nd - 5th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fabulous Fossils

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders investigate how fossils are formed and discuss how scientists determine the appearance of ancient plants and animals. They make fossils of everyday objects for others to identify. They make spreadsheets to display fossil...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fossil Inferences

For Teachers 4th
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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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Back to the Past

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

Comparing Fossils

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Students explore early hominid evolution as they analyze bones that share characteristics of both apes and humans. Students compare and contrast key skeletal differences between chimpanzees and humans. In groups, they sort and group a...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Anatomy Adventure

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Sometimes science is puzzling. Using an online animation, individuals manipulate skeletal bones of an ancient species to recreate its skeleton. Learners complete the skeletal puzzle and learn about the process of paleontology in person...
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

Talk to a Titanosaur

For Students 6th - 12th
Learn all about the Titanosaur with an engaging website that delves deep into the large reptile's physical traits, family history, discovery, and fossil reconstruction.
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Interactive
American Museum of Natural History

What Do You Know About T. Rex?

For Students 6th - 12th
There's so much to learn about dinosaurs. A 10-question quiz tests knowledge of the more detailed characteristics of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. As individuals complete the quiz, they better understand how fossil records helped define some of...
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Writing
Curated OER

Guess Who Came to Dinner!

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
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...