Fossil Formation
Learning from Fossils
Fast Facts
100
in petrified wood, the soft parts of the once-living plant were replaced by this
What are minerals
100
Scientists may learn what an animal ate by looking at the shapes of this fossil item.
What are teeth?
100

the remains or traces of a living thing that died long ago

What is a fossil

200
Animal fossils are more common than plant fossils because plants have this.
What are softer body parts?
200

By comparing fossils, we can determine that some living things have not __________ in millions of years while others have changed dramatically.

What is changed?

200
when an insect gets stuck in tree sap and the sap hardens
What is amber
300

We do not know what many ancient plants look like because they did this before they could form a fossil.

What is decomposed?

300
Scientists compare animal fossils to similar animals that are alive today. For example the elephant and the mammoth both have these.
What are tusks?
300
describes a group of living things that is no longer living
What is extinct
400
Fossils are usually found in this type of rock
What is sedimentary?
400

If two fossils are found in the same rock, scientists can infer that these two things ____________________.

What is lived at the same time?

400
Deeper layers of rock are ___________ than the layers above.
What is older?
500

Describe the steps for a fossil to form in sedimentary rock.

1) animal dies and is covered in sediment 2) soft parts of the animal decompose 3) the bones and sediment turn into rock

500
By looking at a fossil jawbone you may learn....
What did an animal eat? How old was the animal? Was the animal male or female?
500
Suppose a plant and animal die on the same day. Which one will most likely become a fossil? Why?
The animal because it has more hard parts than the plant
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