Fossils as Evidence of Past Living Organisms
Supporting
TEKS Objective
The student is expected to identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and the nature of the environments at the time using models.
Essential Understanding
The student knows Earth's surface is constantly changing and consists of useful resources.
Science Background
Fossils, Rocks and Layers: US Geological Survey (website) - This online book by geologists, L. Edwards and J. Pojeta, Jr., covers time scales, rocks and layers, fossils, and fossil succession.
Fossils: National Park Service (website) - Informative text and photos about fossils at the Grand Canyon, which are discussed by class (terrestrial, marine, and recent fossils).
Signature Lesson
Meet My Pet Fossil, Rocky: National Park Service (PDF) - Students make plaster-of-Paris fossils and then study and describe a real fossil, learn about its environment, what and how it ate, etc.
Meet My Pet Fossil, Rocky:
National Park Service, www.nps.gov
Getting Into the Fossil Record: University of California Museum of Paleontology (website) - Complete interactive teaching module on fossils, with pre- and post-assessments.
- Supporting Lessons
- Extensions
- Assessment Ideas
- Literature Connections
- Related
TEKS - Additional Resources
Supporting Lessons
Fossil Impressions: National Geographic (website) - Students make molds and casts of objects to make their own fossils and find out what a mold or cast of a fossil can show.
Fossil Impressions
National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com
Elaboration Lessons and Extensions
Fossils: Utah Education Network (website) - In this lesson, students pretend to be paleontologists and attempt to figure out the environment in which several fossils would have existed.
Assessment Ideas
The Great Fossil Find: Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes (website) - Following a script read by the teacher, students gradually “discover” (remove from an envelope) paper “fossils” of an unknown creature. With each new “find,” they attempt to reconstruct the creature, and their interpretations tend to change as new pieces are added.
The Great Fossil Find
Evolution and the Nature of Science Institutes, www.indiana.edu/~ensiweb
Literature Connections
Dinosaur Mummies. Millner, Kelly (ISBN: 1-58196-034-4)
A Dinosaur Named Sue: The Story of the Colossal Fossil, The World's Most Complete T. Rex. Relf, Patricia (ISBN: 439099854)
Fossils Tell of Long Ago. Aliki (ISBN-10: 0064450937)
The Best Book of Fossils, Rocks, and Minerals. Perrault, Chris (ISBN-10: 075345274X)
Fossil Shark Teeth of the World. Cocke, Joe (ISBN-10: 0971538131)
Additional Resources
The Fossil Record: Discovery Education (website) - The fossil record reveals a rich diversity of complex animal forms that lived in ancient oceans, known as the Cambrian Sea, in areas now far above sea level.
The Fossil Record
Discovery Education, www.discoveryeducation.com
TEKS Navigation
Grade 5
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