Operation: Tectonic Fury
Fossils Objectives for this Mission 1. Students will understand what fossils are and how they form. 2. Students will understand how fossils can be used to date rocks. Instructions 1. Choose "Operation: Tectonic Fury" from the left menu.
3. Read the Articles from Stage 2 called "What are Fossils?" and "Fossil Formation Conditions." As you read, complete the Google Presentation "Determining Important Information."
Find a partner. Plan and act out how a fossil forms. Use the "How Fossils Can Form" diagram from the article. 4. Click on the Article "Learning from Different Fossil Types.
2. What ancient organisms have been fossilized this way? 3. What do these fossils look like. 4. What can scientists learn from these fossils?
5. Read the Article: "The Fossil Record." 6. Thinking Critically. Inferring, Synthesizing: Log into your Google Docs account. Create a new document. Title your entry "Fossils" SHARE it with your teacher. Answer two of the following questions. Answer the questions by using the words in your answer. 1. How do you go about learning about Earth's past? 2. Give at least two types of things can fossils tell you about organisms that lived in the past? 3. What types of things can fossils not necessarily tell us? 4. Why are many fossils found in sedimentary rock? 5. Why do you suppose finding preserved remains is so much harder than finding other types of fossils? 6. How is it possible for rocks to be used to date fossils and then for fossils in turn to be used to date rocks? 6. Fossil Formation Lab.
7. CLASS: Flip Camera project.
Celebrate! You have completed a Mission! |
Extra Activity: Choose the link for Photos from the left menu. Scroll to Mission 3 and choose Changing Geographic Features. Pay attention to the two photos of the San Andreas Fault. Tell your teacher what you notice about the fault.
Extra Activity: Read the book Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Keep a sequential list of the creatures encountered by Von Hardwigg and his companions. Research these creatures and create a true timeline showing when they actually lived, according to fossil records. Compare what you find to the order Verne introduced the creatures in the book. What do you notice? Turn into your teacher. Extra Activity: Become a Geologist. Examine the area around the school and your home. Look for objects or parts of objects which could be preserved and become fossils in the future. Sketch and describe three (3) future fossils and turn into your teacher. Extra Activity: Research two ways humans preserve food. How is this techniques similar to the earth creating a fossil? Tell your teacher. Extra Activity: Click on this link. Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour. Choose an area to investigate such as all the bones! Tell a partner what the coolest thing is you saw and why. Other Web Resources Awesome Fossil Pictures Fossil and Mineral pictures at UW Madison JellyFish One and Two Jellyfish in Wisconsin |