Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline Burns
Date: 3/30/11
Stories from the Fossil Record Web Quest
1. Click on link http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/stories/index.html
2. Click on STUDENTS
3. Click on PAST LIVES
4. Go through this section of the web quest. As you go through the section or when you complete
the section answer the following questions.
a. How can fossils tell us how long individual organisms live?
We can figure out how long an organism lived by counting the growth rings.
Class Answer: Thickness of bones, layers of osteoycytes. Radio-active decay: you check
the amount of radioactivity in it, and there might be a decrease; which means some of
the bones decayed.
b. How can fossils tell us how individual organisms protected themselves?
If we look at animals today and see the way that they protect themselves, we can infer
that if the fossils we found are in the shape of what animals do today to protect
themselves.
Class Answer: They compare to organisms today, and see if they roll up for protection
also.
c. How can fossils tell us about the behaviors of individual organisms?
Fossils can tell us about behaviors of individual organisms by seeing if there are a lot of
the same fossils near them, and if an adult organisms fossils were found near that same
organisms fossils of a baby.
Class Answer: Infer with how today’s animals interact with each other and compare with
fossil.
d. How can fossils tell us how features of organisms evolved over time?
Features can tell us how they evolved overtime because of looking at the same type of
fossils in animals and looking at their similarities and differences.
Class Answer: Look at bones, and make an inference that they came from a common
ancestor. If they have the same bones.
5. Click on GEOLOGIC TIME
6. Go through this section of the web quest. As you go through the section or when your complete
the section answer the following questions.
a. How can we tell the age of rocks?
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Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline Burns
Date: 3/30/11
We can tell the age of rocks by there relative position, and if we find fossils inside the
rock, we can date where the fossil was alive back then.
Class Answer: Radio-active decay. You can look at the layers of the rocks.
BottomOldest; TopYoungest. If we find a fossil and figure out what year they came
from we can infer how old the rock is.
b. How can we tell the age of fossils?
We can tell the age of fossils by there relative position in rocks, and if they are in specific
layers of rock.
Class Answer: Basically the same answer as “A”.
c. How can we learn about past geologic events?
We can learn about past geologic events by looking for similar fossils in areas, and if the
fossils are spread out, then we can tell that they moved by a geologic event.
Class Answer: We look at rock layers, and we look for dust in-between layers. This
indicated that some geological event happened.
d. How do we know that the continents moved?
We know that the continents moved because we found Glossopteris scattered in
different continents. But they were relatively in a line, and if the continents were
together, the Glossopteris would form a thick line.
7. Click on PALEOECOLOGY
8. Go through this section of the web quest. As you go through the section or when your complete
the section answer the following questions.
a. How can we tell what the climate was like in the past?
We can tell what the climate was like in the past by temperature, and by looking at the
fossils of plants. If the plant has a round edge then it was in a warm temperature area
but if it was rough then it is from a cool temperature area.
Class Answer: We can look at today’s animals and look at what environment they live in
and then look at the fossils back then. Also look at plants; Number 1 Guide: Big
difference in the plants in different climates.
b. How can we tell that environments drastically changed in the past?
We can tell that environments drastically changed by looking at the fossils found in the
environments today. Like if we found a fossil that is of an animal that lives in the water,
but the fossil is found in the desert, we can tell that the desert used to be a body of
water.
Class Answer: We can look at the fossil layers, and refer to today’s fossils.
c. How can we tell how organisms interacted with each other in the past?
We can tell how they interacted with each other if they have bite marks on them, such
as they were the prey, and if they have features that enable them to be moved.
Class Answer: Bite marks and see if they have small bones in their rib cage. This might
have been the last thing they ate.
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Learning from the Fossil Record
Grade 8 Science
Name: Caroline Burns
Date: 3/30/11
d. What causes ecosystems to change over time?
The features in the ecosystem cause it to change. Just like the ice melting, or if a
mountain forms. Tracking pollen and spore distribution through time can tell us how
ecosystems have changed.
Class Answer: Changes in the climate cause an ecosystem to change. Seasons. Species
went extinct. Natural Disaster.
9. Click on BIODIVERSITY
10. Go through this section of the web quest. As you go through the section or when your complete
the section answer the following questions.
a. How can we tell that life has changed over time?
We can tell that life has changed over time by looking at the fossils. Fossil Layers.
b. How can we tell how organisms are related?
We can tell that organisms are related by looking at fossils, and seeing how they are
similar in the way they look. Similar Bone Structures.
c. How can we tell that extinctions have occurred in the past?
We find fossils, and there are no more of those organisms anywhere in the world. But
there might be some relatives of the organism.
Class Answer: We can’t match up those bones to any other animal today.
Lots of fossils, a few fossils, no fossils, then today.
d. What can we learn from past extinctions?
We can learn what happened to cause the extinction, and if it was because of the
environment.
11. Our FOCUS QUESTION for this portion of the unit is: How can we learn about past environments and
living things by studying fossils? Make a list of key concepts you learned from this web quest that
will help you to revise your pre-assessment answer to this question.
1. We can learn about past environments and living things by studying fossils and how they protect
themselves, and how they behave.
2. We can learn about past environments and living things by studying how old fossils are.
3. We can learn about past environments and living things by studying their ecosystems and who they
lived with.
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