Activity 5: Do at Home!

Fossil Jumble

Sometimes you can find whole layers of rock covered with different fossils. Sometimes the fossils havenít been broken or worn, but other times we only find little pieces. It can sometimes be very difficult to identify the pieces, but they can also tell us some very important things. This is a picture of a layer of fossils that is like those found right here in New York. Give each type of fossil a color and then circle all of that kind in the picture with that color. Were there any fossils that you had a hard time identifying? Why?

Extension: You can do this same activity using real rocks covered with fossils.

Main Message: The main reason for this activity is for students to see that scientists use all available data, some of which may be uncertain.

Connections: This kind of exercise is part of reconstructing the environment (activity 3); you do it in real life in activity 6.