The Great Fossil Find

Students will go on an imaginary fossil hunt, making observations and predictions following each step.  You will have to cut apart the fossil parts of the animal that can be downloaded on the site. Students will work in groups and as a class they will take out a few bones at a time.  This process goes along with a story that you will read aloud to the class.  This is a great inquiry activity allowing the students to see how paleontologists use fossil findings to interpret the type of animal it might have been. Students are able to analyze fossil pictures and make predictions about the type of animal and make changes to their predictions as new evidence is discovered. 

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 
  • Students will recognize the concepts listed for this lesson.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying

Helpful Hints

Materials:

  • Narrative for teacher to read.
  • Envelopes containing paper cut-out fossil pieces (1 set per team). 
  • The original version of this page can be found in the Laboratory Manual for Scott, Foresman's text Biology (by Irwin L. Slesnick), 1985, page 75 (ISBN 0-673-22303-6). Thanks to Nancy Hein of Hawley, Texas for bringing this to our attention.
  • Alternative fossil sheet (Pakicetus) for cutting apart.
  • See Extensions & Variations item #9 (below) for more sets of fossils. 
  • Skeletal Resource Manual (1 per team)
  • [Adapted from old skeletal anatomy sheets, probably from Carolina Biological Supply.]
  • Optional: Worksheet, one per student, or one per team.

References

Contributors: