Natural Sciences and Technology Grade 5 Term 4: Planet Earth and Beyond Fossils (PPT 1)

Topic 4 Fossils Fossils in rock Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4

What are fossils? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 Fossils are the remains of ancient plants and animals preserved (kept safe) in layers of rock. During fossilisation, the soft parts of the plants and animals rot away.

What are fossils? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 The hard parts remain and become preserved as fossils. Most of the organisms that scientists study are now extinct (they do not exist anymore).

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 1. When a plant / animal dies, it falls to the ground. This TRICERATOPS died on the banks of a river.

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 2. The flesh of the dinosaur decomposes, or other animals eat it. Only the skeleton remains.

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 3. There was a lot of rain, so the river rose and covered the skeleton with mud and sand.

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 4. Over time, more sand and mud layers are formed on top of the skeleton. The layers become hard and turn to rock.

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 5. Wind and water erodes the rock over time and the fossils are exposed on the surface. A scientist can now carefully remove the rock and sand around the skeleton and study the fossil in a safe place.

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4

How are fossils formed? Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4

Why fossils are important Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 Nobody was around millions of years ago. We have to find other ways to find out what life was like millions of years ago. Fossils give us information about the past.

Why fossils are important Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4 Fossilized animal droppings tell us what the animal used to eat. We can then work out what plants grew in that time.

What fossils look like Gr 5 Natural Sciences and Technology – Term 4, Topic 4