| Lesson Title (Description) |
Grade Level |
Lesson Type |
Adventures at Dry Creek
In this interactive web-based module students conduct a simulated field study at a fossil dig in Montana. |
6-8 |
Web activity |
Climate Analysis Using Planktonic Foraminifera
Students manipulate, plot, and interpret data on the occurence of a particular species of foraminifera in the fossil record in order to infer changes in climate during the last 160,000 years. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Getting into the Fossil Record
In this interactive module students are introduced to fossils and the fossilization process by examining how fossils are formed and the factors that promote or prevent fossilization. |
6-8 |
Web activity |
Great Fossil Find
Students are taken on an imaginary fossil hunt and hypothesize as to the identity of the creature they discover. Students revise their hypotheses as new evidence is "found." |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Inferring Ancient Environments from Fossil Foraminifera
Students analyze actual data from samples of microfossils collected from a particular locality. They use this data to infer water depths in the Miocene in order to locate potential petroleum reserves. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Interpreting the Tracks
Students discover the relationships among foot length, leg length, stride length and speed in bipedal animals that provide clues about dinosaur speed. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Lines of evidence: The science of evolution
The theory of evolution is broadly accepted by scientists — and for good reason! Learn about the diverse and numerous lines of evidence that support the theory of evolution. |
6-8 |
Tutorial |
What Came First?
Students sequence actual events in the history of life on Earth and place them on a large timeline. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
Xenosmilus
Students play the roles of paleontologists on a dig. They “unearth” a few fossils at a time and attempt to reconstruct the animal the fossils represent. |
6-8 |
Classroom activity |
