FOSSILS

1. FOSSILS A Trip Through Geological Time How does evidence from rocks help scientists understand Earth's history?

2. Skills Check Number your paper 1-5 Skip Lines 1. What is a fossil? 2. What does the fossil record show us (2 main things)? 3. Name 3 of the 4 types of fossils. 4. Name a possible way coal could have been found in Antarctica. 5. What type of rock do we find most all fossils in? (one of 
the three main categories of rock)

3. What is a fossil? One person in the group write 
the groups definition on a sheet of paper A fossil is the preserved remains or traces of living 
things. They are the evidence of how life has 
changed over time.

4. Most Fossils form when living things die and are 
buried in the sediments then.... The soft parts of the bodies decay leaving behind 
the hard parts such as bones, teeth, shells, stems, and 
woody parts Fossil intro.asf

5. Make a Foldable! Headings: Petrified Fossils Carbon Films Trace Fossils Preserved Remains

6. Types of Fossils: Petrified fossils: minerals replace all or part of an organism- Example: 
Petrified Wood. Molds and Casts would fall under this heading. Molds mmmmMMmmmm Carbon films: all living things contain carbon. When the plant or 
animal dies, the liquids in the body evaporate into gas. A thin layer of 
carbon remains. This is how delicate plant leaves or insect bodies can 
be preserved. Trace Fossils: Evidence of activities of ancient organisms. Discuss with your group- 
What evidence of activities might be preserved as fossils? Preserved Remains: Little or no change- plant or animals remain just as they did when they 
died. Discuss with your group- Where might we find preserved fossils? Types of fossils.asf

7. Preserved Remains: Little or no change- plant or animals remain just as they did when they 
died. Discuss with your group- Where might we find preserved fossils?

8. The Fossil Record Shows: Evidence about the history of life and past environments How could coal be found in Antarctica? How could alligator and water turtle fossils have been found in the dry 
plains in the Midwest United States? What types of global changes have occurred that could explain this? It shows how different groups of organisms have changed over time

9. With your group 
make 
observations, and 
then inferences 
about the picture 
and what may 
have occurred to 
create these 
marks.

10. With your group, 
make observations and 
inferences. Have you 
changed your 
inferences?

11. Finally, the entire 
view is revealed. Have you changed 
your inferences yet 
again? What type of 
fossils do these 
footprints represent?

12. The Age of Rocks Relative Age: A comparison- how old is the rock/fossil in relation to 
other rocks it is found near. She is older than my mother, but 
younger than my father uses relative age. Now, come up with a saying that uses relative age to describe 
yourself. Absolute Age- more specific. The number of years since the rock 
formed. Think of it as a birthday. Relative and Absolute Time.asf

13. The Law of Super Position In Sedimentary Rock, the layer on the bottom is the 
________________ layer. The second layer to the 
bottom is the second _____________________ layer, 
and so on.

14. Directions: 1. Arrange all the cards in order based on what they share. Start with 
"TC" on the bottom and build up from there. 2. Starting with the top card- the letters should be arranged from 
youngest to oldest. Write your letters from youngest to oldest on a 
separate sheet of paper. On the same paper- answer the following questions as a group: 1. How do you know X is older than M? 2. Look at your cards. Why is D in the rock layer the same age as M? 3. Explain why D in the rock layer OXD is older than the D in the rock layer represented by DM

15. An index fossil is a fossil that is found only in one 
particular layer of rock and is found throughout the 
world. 4. Which fossils might be used as index fossils? 5. Name three organisms that could not be considered 
an index fossil and state why. 6. How does the Law of Superposition relate to the 
activity that we just did?

16. Unconformities An unconformity is a Gap in the Geologic Record--new rock 
layers meet really old rock layers. How could this happen? Unconformity

17. Dating Fossils Index Fossils: clues that helps Geologists map 
layers of rocks. - organism that existed only 
briefly and was found in a lot of places. Helps 
Geologists determine relative age. Radio Active Dating :How long until its gone? Predict how 
many more times you would have to cut the clay for it to be 
too small to cut Determining Age absolute time.asf

18. Radio Active Decay When an atom decays at a predictable rate- releasing 
energy. One element becomes another when it loses a 
"part" of itself. The rate of decay is called the HALF- LIFE Carbon Dating.asf

19. Fossil Fuels.asf Fossil Fuels Fuel: provides energy such as heat light and motion or electricity as a 
result of a CHEMICAL change. The 3 major fossil fuels are :_________________, 
__________________, and ___________________. Fossil Fuels take hundreds of millions of years to form so the are 
considered NON- RENEWABLE!!!!

21. Attachments Fossil intro.asf Types of fossils.asf Relative and Absolute Time.asf Determining Age absolute time.asf Carbon Dating.asf Fossil Fuels.asf