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Lesson summary for...
Great Fossil Find
Author/Source: ENSI |
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| Overview: | 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." |
| Concepts: | This lesson covers the following concepts:- Life forms of the past were in some ways very different from living forms of today, but in other ways very similar.
- There are similarities and differences among fossils and living organisms.
- Scientists pose, test, and revise multiple hypotheses to explain what they observe.
- Scientists use only natural causes to explain natural phenomena.
- We can learn about the natural world using our senses and extensions of our senses.
- Scientific ideas are developed through reasoning.
- Science does not prove or conclude; science is always a work in progress.
- Science corrects itself.
- In explaining phenomena, the parsimonious claim has the advantage.
- Science is a human endeavor.
- Scientists use fossils (including sequences of fossils showing gradual change over time) to learn about past life.
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| Grade Level: | 9-12 |
| Time: | ~40 minutes |
| Teacher Background: | Explore these links for additional information on the topics covered in this lesson: |
| Teaching Tips: | An excellent lesson for demonstrating and discussing the nature of science. Adaptable to multiple grade levels. A similar lesson has been developed entitled Xenosmilus.
Best to laminate sets of the “fossil bones” for repetitive use. |
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