1. What do these rocks have in common
What do these rocks have in common? What do you see that makes you say so? (Be as specific and as scientific as you can.)
Coal
Fossil
Limestone
Coral

2. The Organisms’ Chapter of the Rock Story
Still needs revision.
Get some coral for the kids to look at.
Horn Coral in with fossils
“Biotic” Rocks
The Organisms’ Chapter of the Rock Story

3. Brain Pop: Fossils

4. Fossils: Fossils can tell us about the history of life on earth.
Fossils can tell us about the climate on earth.
Fossils can help us date rock layers.

5. Types of Fossils - Body Lightning Shell in rock Peat Bog Frozen
Bones in rock
Frozen
Amber (tree sap)

6. Types of Fossils - Trace
Gastroliths (stones to aid digestion)
Coprolite (poo)
Bite/gnaw marks
Tracks
Burrows

7. Types of Fossils - Mold

8. Types of Fossils - Cast
Pompeii, Italy
Natural vs. Artificial?

9. Brain Pop: Fossil Fuels/Fossils

10. Coal:
Plants that live in swampy/marshy habitats die and turn into peat.
Peat is compressed over the course of millions of years and turned into coal.

12. Peat: a Step Toward Coal or Oil

13. Brain Pop: Coral

14. Coral: Coral Castle in Miami, FL
Coral produces a hard structure that serves as a sort of skeleton. When each generation of corals die their “skeleton” is left behind, building up very slowly year after year.

15. Coral reefs are home to 25% of all marine species

16. Coral often grow up around a volcano as it erodes.

17. (Coral) Atoll

18. Limestone:
Small marine invertebrates (salt water animals without backbones) use a good deal of calcium in their shells.
The animal dies and the soft parts rot away but the shells remain and build up layer after layer.
The shells are compressed and turned into limestone.

19. Limestone is made of dead coral and other sea shells

20. Used for Buildings and Monuments

21. The Top Layer of Everest is Limestone What does that tell you?

22. These Horn Coral Fossils are Limestone
What we think the living organism may have looked like.

23. Fossils:
Rock layers can help date fossils and fossils can help date rock layers.
Archaeopteryx is a very famous fossil.

24. Geologic Time Divisions Notable Fossils or Events
Geologic Time Divisions
Notable Fossils or Events
Time Scale
(Million years ago)
Cenozoic
Abundant mammals,
including humans   65
245
550
2,500
3,800
4,500
Mesozoic
Cretaceous
Dinosaurs, flowering plants, birds, mammals
Jurassic
Triassic
Paleozoic
Permian
Gymnosperms
Mass extinction
Carboniferous
Reptiles
Devonian
First amphibians, early insects
Silurian
Land plants
Ordovician
Fish
Cambrian
Marine invertebrates ---trilobites dominant
Proterozoic
Aquatic plants
Archean
Earliest life --- bacteria, algae
Earth formed
Geologic Time Scale

25. Using Fossils to Date Rock Layers: