Fossils

Description

We designed this expert pack to begin with a fun look at how to make a fossil, knowing that students will potentially have no prior knowledge of this topic. The first hook is an activity where students “fabricate fossils.” In this quick game, students make a fossil or fail to make a fossil based on the conditions in which the animal bones are exposed. After the create a fossil activity, students then read the book “Figuring Out Fossils” to gain a deeper understanding about what fossils are and how they are created in nature. “A Mammoth Discovery” is the next text where students can learn about discovering fossils in a present-day news story. After this article, students will continue to learn about fossils through a different lens of fossils long ago. At this point, Mary Anning, a fossil finder from the 1800s is introduced. The next resource, “The Girl Who Found The Dinosaurs”, should be read aloud because of the high Lexile level. After listening to the article, students will then watch a video about a Lego kit that describes the life of Mary Anning. Students will learn about Anning’s life, while watching a Lego kit get constructed. Students then check out the fossil record and what it is like to be a paleontologist, by using a fossil finding interactive website. To wrap up this expert pack, students will read the final text “Fossils” to recap all of the learning that has taken place.