Unearthing Fossils
A Yakima WATERS Mini Lesson
Targets and Assessment
WA Science Standards Addressed:
 4-5 ES3A: different events cause the formation of
different fossils
 4-5 ES3B: preserved fossils in layers or rock make
it possible to infer the paleo-environment as the
time of formation.
 Review of 4-5 ES2D re: weathering, erosion,
plant matter decay, transportation and
deposition 4-5 ES2E re: soil layers and 4-5 ES2F
re: too much erosion
Lesson Parameters
Content Area: Earth Science, Geology, Biology
Overview:
The students will examine plant fossil imprints and bone and
shell fossils and will learn about WHAT types of objects are
preserved and HOW fossils form. Natural events and
environmental conditions that best preserve fossils will be
introduced through discussion and images.
Assessments:
 Quiz – identifying fossils in rock
 Quiz – identifying modern day items that
will/will not be fossilized
Suggested Time: 50 min
Grade Level: 5 (can be modified for 6 and included with natural
disasters lessons)
Special Materials:
 Fossils – see geology or biology department at CWU.
Local collecting sites noted in resources.
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge: Students should be able to
 Define fossils
 Explain what scientists can learn about past environmental conditions from fossils.
 List the environmental conditions necessary for fossil formation and explain how fossils form
using previously introduces vocabulary (e.g., erosion)
 Assess what types of material are best preserved as fossils.
Skill: Identify some basic fossils in rock.
Science Concept Background:
Fossils are preserved objects from the past, including bones, teeth, shells, and plants and plant imprints.
Fossils are preserved in a number of ways including calm water bodies, in mass wasting events (e.g. flood,
land slide), or more special instances such as tar pits. Fossils provide clues to the past environment in which
they were deposited and/or preserved. Scientist use these clues to identify ages of rock formations, health
of environments, and to understand ecosystems in the past. In many cases what is actually preserved is a Ca
replacement of the original living material, although this detail does not need to be shared with the
students. What is important for the students to understand, is that the hard parts of animals do not decay
the way soft tissue does and instead remain as fossils (as long as they are buried and thus protected).
This lesson is a good follow up to formation of earth materials lessons and perhaps a form and function
lesson. Previous lessons should introduce students to the following concepts: erosion, creation of soil and
deposition of rocks layers. This lesson reinforces sedimentary rock formation by thinking about the
incorporation of fossils. Students will learn which natural materials are fossilized and which are not (hard
material most easily fossils, imprints in soft soil can be fossilized). They will also learn what types of
environments and events preserved fossils. This will build on their understanding of erosion and deposition.
Materials:
Fossils – at least 3 examples each of: plant fossil imprints, shell fossils, bone fossils
Non-fossil bearing rocks – 5 or more examples
Handouts: 1) Fossils Worksheet 2) Fossil quiz 3) Predicting fossilization of modern objects
Procedure:
3-5 min: Start off by showing the class a skull (coyote, deer, rodent or something they might guess is best –
see bio department at CWU for clean and identified skulls). Ask the students if they can guess where the
skull came from? Talk about the fact that the skull once belonged to an animal that lived a long time ago.
Then introduce the class to the lesson. “Today we will learn about fossils, natural objects that have been
preserved from the past. We will look at examples of fossils, fossils still in rocks, and examples of rocks that
do not have fossils…etc.”.
3-5: Demonstrate how you want students to go through stations (using the fossil work sheet, record what
fossil you think is preserved, what characteristics lead you to this conclusion, and include samples number).
Have students break into groups of 2 or 3 and go through stations. Each station should have 3-4 examples
and at least some should have rocks with no fossils to help students build the connection between rocks
types with and without fossils. The number of stations will depend on your number of samples and number
of students.
15 minutes going through fossil sample stations
3-5 min: After students have completed looking at the different samples have a class discussion about what
they saw, similarities and difference in what the fossils look like, how they are preserved, and what the rocks
look like. Write up some of the common ideas on the board to be reviewed later. This can be a good
formative assessment of whether or not the students are picking up on the proper characteristics
(sedimentary rocks vs. metamorphic (the names are not important, but they should start to realize the
difference), most fossils are partially preserved, the bones are really white, a lot of plant fossils are black). If
students are missing things, emphasize them in the next part of the lesson.
7-10min: Present a power point that shows images of some ways that fossils can be preserved (flood,
normal entrainment during deposition, after death, tar pits, volcanic eruptions). Emphasize features of the
fossils such as color, they rocks they are preserved in (often layered, maybe sandy or muddy feeling – if they
have learned about sedimentary rocks used the proper term), and begin to address misconception that may
have been mentioned during the preceding class discussion.
3-5 min: After the power point presentation have the students discuss new ideas they have about what they
saw among the samples based on the new information they learned in the power point.
5 min: Review the fundamentals of what fossils are (preserved hard parts of animals, plant imprints, etc of
things that lived a long time ago). Common ways they are deposited and preserved. Here you must nail any
misconceptions on the head. Hopefully the students will pick up on these with the power point and
following discussion, but if not clear things up now.
10 min: Now have the students take a quiz (5 samples – at least one without fossils)
Key questions:
What parts of the animal remain as fossils? What parts do not? Are there some conclusions we can
draw from this? (hard parts are best preserved, more delicate parts may be preserved as
imprints)
What are some natural events that help preserve fossils? (floods, volcanoes, also quiet marine
environments)
Can fossils tell us what plants and animals looked like? (Only a little bit. Based on the size of bones,
height and sometimes strength can be estimated. The outer, delicate bodies of animals are
typically not preserved, so we do not know what the animals looked like exactly; we can not tell
what color the animals were for example. As for plants, sometimes we can get a good idea of
the shape if the whole plant is buried in a quite lake, but things like color can not be determined)
Extension(s):
1) Predicting what types of modern day material will be fossilized can be used as an extension piece. Have a
discussion about modern day objects that may be fossilized. Be sure to differentiate between living things
that are preserved, versus non-living objects that are preserved. Note: the quiz on potential modern fossils
may be conducted formally, informally or another day.
2) Modeling fossils preservation with stream tables, creating floods, or quite lakes or mass land sliding.
Other modeling with volcanic eruptions will work too. The class could break into 4 teams and each tackle
one model of fossil preservation then present what they did to the class.
3) If possible do a fieldtrip to a fossil site with the class!
Teaching Tips:
-Choose groups before the lesson.
-Set up fossil sample and quiz numbers and stations before the class period.
-It is important to be clear that the leaves themselves are NOT preserved, but the imprint of the leaf is.
What’s more, in order for this to happen the soil or sediment must be very fine and the environment quiet,
like a still lake.
Supplements:
Any introductory geology textbook will do:
Prothero, D. and R.H. Dott, Jr., “Evolution of the Earth” (any edition is fine; I have the 7 th edition)
Chapter 2 – for details about specific time periods see other chapters.
Grotzinger, J., T.H. Jordan, F. Press, and R. Siever, “ Understanding Earth” (any edition is fine; I have the 5 th)
Chapter 8 specifically, but chapter 3, 5, and 1 are also good supplements.
Fossil Collection site:
Blewett Pass, just past mile post 163. Stop 8 in: Regional geology field guide by Hoskin and Ely, 2004
Websites to start with:
http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/fossils/contents.html
http://www.fossilsforkids.com/
By: Meilani Bowman-Kamaha’o, Fall 2011, for Harrah Elementary School