Vocabulary
The preserved remains or traces of past life, usually found in sedimentary rock.
What is a fossil?
Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by sediment.
What is true?
An organism dies.
This is step #???
STEP #1
I found a fossil that has a fan shaped tail, a fin on its back and flipper/fins on each side. The information that I would use to understand this organisms environment is:___________________-
a. That this animal lived in a lake because it has bones and soft skin.
b. This animal lived at the bottom of a mountain and got covered up by mud.
c. This animal lived in a water environment since it has fins and flippers.
John went to a museum to observe a full skeleton of an animal. It was prehistoric and fossilized. He really wanted to know about the type of habitat that the animal lived in when it was alive. Which body part would help John the most?
tusks, short legs, flippers, flat teeth, rib bones or large skull.
Flippers
Any organism that dies will turn into a fossil as long as you wait 10,000 years and it falls on top of mud.
True- Explain
or
False-Explain
False,
Sometimes the bones of an organism decay or rot just like the soft tissue.
The organism must be covered with sediment so that the bones are not exposed to the air and do not decay. The sooner it is covered the better!!
Every kind of living thing has been preserved as a fossil.
False
When a paleontologist or fossil hunter finds a fossil.
This is STEP #???
STEP #5
Mrs. Pimental showed her class how to make a model of a fossil and showed them the 5 steps of fossilization. They pressed a plastic bone into some clay and then took it out creating an imprint or mold.
Then they filled the hollow part with GLUE, and it hardened.
What does the GLUE represent in this MODEL?
The glue represents a rock.
The glue represents minerals seeping in.
The glue represents oil.
Which of the following is the most important part of a diagram that is for EXPLAINING the process of a fossil being formed?
A. The names of the soil layers.
B. The name of the leaf.
C. A time lapse image for each step with arrows and labels.
C. A time lapse image for each step with arrows and labels.
Can a fossil form with out bones? Can it form when dissolved minerals fill a mold, empty space or imprint?
Yes after the minerals seep in, they minerals harden.
**(It's called a cast.)
A fossil must be 10,000 years old to be considered a fossil.
True
When minerals from the soil SEEP into and imprint or into an organisms bones.
This is STEP #???
STEP #4
Reina found a horseshoe crab fossil while going on a fossil hike through the desert. She decided this area that was now a dessert was probably an___________ a long time ago. Because______________________.
OCEAN
Because: horseshoe crabs are and were always ocean creatures.
Loni and Lexi are are trying to create models of a leaf fossil. Lexi took a leaf and pressed it into clay, removed it and covered the imprint with dirt.
Loni took her leaf, pressed it into clay, removed it and filled the imprint with glue.
Was Lexi correct because all dead things get covered in dirt? or was Loni correct because the glue represents minerals filling into the empty spaces to form a fossil.
It was Loni, because the glue represents the minerals filling the space.
What does DECAY or DECOMPOSE mean?
When something breaks down or ROTS away.
Fossils are mostly discovered in sedimentary rocks on Earth's surface.
What is true?
When layers of SEDIMENT, (soil, mud, dirt) cover the bones of an organism.
This is STEP #???
STEP # 3
Which one of these is CORRECT about where you might find a fossil?
A. Fossils are found all over the world, mostly in water.
B. Fossils are found all over the world, mostly in rock.
C. Fossils are ONLY found in water.
A. Fossils are found all over the world, mostly in water.
Mrs. Holloman worked with a group of kids in Science.
One child poured glue into a hollow space in the clay. One student used a book to push down dirt over the the clay. One student used a pencil to pick and dig through the dirt.
Which student BEST demonstrated the STEP that shows organisms must be buried in sediment?
The student who used a book to push down dirt over the the clay.
Explain "minerals seep in".
Minerals from the soil dissolve and drip down and soak into the bone or the empty space in a rock.
A fish fossil found in the desert is evidence that the land where the fossil was found was once under water.
Is this true or false?
TRUE
When the soft tissue of an organism decays or rots leaving only its bones.
This is step #???
STEP # 2
Entire animals (spiders, insects) can be preserved when they are trapped in tree sap that hardens.
What is amber?
Is it possible for an organism to be buried under sediment BEFORE decaying or rotting and then turning into a fossil? Or must it decay first and then get covered?
EXPLAIN
It can happen either way, but the FASTER it is covered or buried in sediment, the better chance it has of fossilization.