What I know about fossils:
1.Fossils come from ancient organisms.
2. Fossils make fossil fuels.
What I learned about fossils:
1. When an organism dies, its soft parts rot or get eaten by animals.
Therefore hard parts are left, thus making fossils.
2. Mold is a hollow area in a sediment in the shape of an organism.
Introduction:
1. The preserved remains or traces of living things are called fossils.
2. Three things that scientists learn by studying fossils are:
a. How Earth’s surface has changed
b. Past environments were like
c. Life changing over time
How a fossil forms:
 True or False?
1.Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by
sediments. True
2.Fossils are usually found in igneous rock. False

The type of rock that is made of hardened sediment is sedimentary rock.
Why do only the hard parts of organisms generally leave fossils?
That is because the soft parts rot or eaten by animals.
 True or False?
1. Fossils can form when the remains of an organism decay. False
Bold the letter of each sentence that is true about molds and casts.
a. Both molds and casts copy the shape of ancient organisms
b. A mold forms when the hard part of an organism is buried in
sediment.
c. A cast is a hollow area in sediment in the shape of an
organism.
d. Molds and casts do not show details of an organism’s
structure.
Fossils in which minerals replace all or part of an organism
are called petrified fossils.
 True or False?
1. Petrified fossils can form when the minerals in water make a
copy of the organism. False
2. A carbon film forms when minerals preserve the delicate
parts of an organism. False
What is a carbon film?
Carbon film is a thin coating of carbon on rock.
Trace fossils:
Footprints
Animal Trails
Burrows
What can a scientist infer by looking at fossil footprints?
Scientists can infer about an animal’s size and behavior. Scientists can also
collect facts about ancient organisms. Such as where it lived.
Three ways remains of organisms have been preserved:
a. Organisms trapped in tar
b. Preserved with amber
c. Freezing
Change over time:
Scientists who study fossils are called paleontologists.
 True or False
1. Paleontologists classify organisms based on the organisms’
similarities and when they lived. True
All the information that paleontologists have gathered about past life is called
the fossil record.
Truths about the fossil record:



It provides evidence for the history of life on Earth
It shows organisms have changed
It provides evidence to support the theory of evolution
 True or False?
1.It is very difficult for scientists to learn about Earth’s past
environments by studying fossils. False
Fossils (continued):
Environments where coal can form
 Warm, swampy regions
What is a scientific theory?
A scientific theory is an idea that demonstrates and displays the explanation
of a variety of observations.
The gradual change in living things over long periods of time is called
evolution.
The fossil record shows that millions of types of organisms have evolved.
True
A type of organism that no longer exists and will never again live on
Earth is extinct.