MENU

Really Ancient Fossils STEM Kit

Explore how fossils are used to reconstruct a paleoenvironment and a paleoevent!

Using field techniques used by paleontologists, students map and excavate fossils from an unknown environment. By closely examining the fossils and researching their preferred habitat, students can draw a picture of the geologic setting. Using the geologic age ranges for the fossils present, students can narrow down when the event occurred that led to the fossilization. This is a great kit to do before visiting the Denver Musem of Nature and Science!

Science and Engineering Practices include: 1) developing and using models; 2) analyzing and interpreting data; 3) engaging in argument from evidence; 4) obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Crosscutting concepts include: 1) patterns; 2) cause and effect; 3) scale, proportion and quantity; 4) systems and system models; 5) structure and function’ 6) stability and change of systems

Class Requirements

  • 4th grade and up
  • Moderate teacher preparation
  • One to two class periods
  • 30 students or less working in pairs
  • Science notebooks
  • Cups

Really Ancient Fossils STEM Kit Resources

Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas

  • 4-ESS1.C: The History of the Earth Local, regional, and global patterns of rock formations reveal changes over time due to Earth’s forces, such as earthquakes. The presence and location of certain fossil types indicate the order in which rock layers were formed.
  • 5-ESS2.A: Earth Materials and Systems The ocean supports a variety of ecosystems and organisms, shapes and landforms, and influences climate.
  • MS-ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth The geologic timescale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale.
  • MS-LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity The collection of fossils and their placement in chronologic order (e.g., through the location of the sedimentary layers in which they are found or through radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It documents the existence, diversity, extinction and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth.
  • HS-ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth Continental rocks, which can be older than 4 billion years, are generally much older than the rocks of the ocean floor, which are less than 200 million years old.

Borrowing Really Ancient Fossils STEM Kits

There is no charge to educators who wish to borrow any of our STEM kits. We appreciate applications be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of the desired use date. The loan application forms require you to confirm your email address before it will be sent to the EOC – so once you click submit, check your email (including the junk folder)! You should also get a copy of the form for your records via email, if you don’t, please contact Jordan Conley (jordan.conley@colostate.edu).

In the bones of the rock
The fossils are living,
Crinoid and ammonite;
In the red of the rock
(Sandstone and hematite)
The fossils are moving,
Coiling, crawling,
Aching for the sea.

         – Norman Nicholson