1. Unit 3 Earth History: Day 8
Focus: Fossils
12/15/17
Get a computer.
Pick up the “Fossils” notes from the lab table.
Answer the E.Q’s on pages 41 and 43. HURRY!
Copy today’s E.Q. on page 45.

2. Plan for the Day
1. Review E.Q’s
2. Lesson about Fossils
*Notes/Videos

3. Homework
Worksheet “Fossils” – due Monday.

4. Let’s go over the E.Q.s on pages 41 and 43.

5. Essential Question – Copy on page 45.
What are the different types of fossils, and what can we learn from studying fossils?

6. Log into your computer and go to my website
Log into your computer and go to my website. Look for the “Fossils PowerPoint” on my Class Documents page. It’s the first one. I just loaded it today. Open it and get started completing the notes. Watch the 2 video clips. I will know if you watched them because they will take 8 minutes…plus the time it takes to fill in the notes…and they’re pretty interesting videos.

7. Notes
13. Fossil: the preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past
A.D. 1 -form when living things die & are buried by sediments.
A.D. 2 -Over time the sediments slowly harden into sedimentary rock.

8. 14. What information do fossils provide?
Evidence of how life & environmental conditions changed over time
Processes we see today (erosion, plate movement, changes in composition of the atmosphere) have happened throughout Earth’s history (Uniformitarianism)
Occasional catastrophes (asteroids, comets, super volcanoes) have also influenced Earth’s history (Catastrophism)

9. 4. Clues to the diversity of living things over Earth’s history
5. Clues to past climate and surface changes on Earth
6. Clues to changes that have occurred with organisms over time, including mass extinctions of species

10. Types of fossils
15. Mold fossil: forms when sediments bury an organism & the sediments change into rock; the organism decays leaving a cavity in the shape of the
organism –
A.D. 1 - Similar to a jello mold or a cake pan

11. Types of fossils
16. Cast fossil: forms when a mold is filled with sand or mud that hardens into the shape
of the organism –
A.D. 1 -Similar to the cake that comes out of the cake pan; arm cast takes the shape of your arm (mold)
mold
cast

12. 17. Petrified fossil (permineralized): forms when minerals soak into the buried remains, replacing the remains, & changing them into rock.
A.D. 1 – petrified wood
Video-Petrified Forest

13. 18. Preserved remains: forms when entire organisms or parts of organisms are prevented from decaying by being trapped in rock, ice, tar, or amber. - A.D.1 – skin, hair/fur, bones, teeth; bog mummies
Tar
Amber
Ice
Ice

14. This is another example of preserved remains found in Denmark in a tar bog. They are called the “bog mummies”

15. 19. Trace Fossils: form when the mud or sand hardens to stone where a footprint, trail, or burrow of an organism was left behind.
A.D. 1 - evidence that the organism was there
A.D. 2 – Can even be fossilized poop (coprolites)

16. 20. Carbon films: form when a thin coating of carbon from a once-living thing is left on a rock.

17. NOW
Observe the fossil at the left. What does it look like? Where do you think you’d find such a fossil?
Would it surprise you to know that fossils similar to this were found in the Sahara Desert? What might you infer about how they got there?
With your partner, let’s start reading our Fossil worksheet together. Highlight important information. Be prepared to share & take notes.

18. Wrap-up:
Write a summary statement explaining the most important thing you learned today. How does it affect you and your world?

19. End of Day 8