Activity 6: Do at the Museum!

Search for Fossil Clues

Become a rock detective and search for fossil clues!

On your visit to the museum explore the shale pit and find as many different kinds of fossils as you can.

Bring your magnifying glass and look closely at the loose pieces of shale.

*What fossils do you find a lot of?
*What fossils are there very few of?

Draw a couple pictures of the fossils you found and then return the rocks to the pit for the next detectives to find!

You can see some typical kinds of fossils from Central New York on the 'fossil board' at PRI.

Main Message: The main point is to engage students in discovering and in considering the relative abundance and preservation of natural assemblages of fossils.

Connections: You can make your own collections (activity 4) and identify them (activity 5) at many localities in Upstate New York.

The Paleontological Research Institution
1259 Trumansburg Road • Ithaca, NY 14850 • phone: 607-273-6623 • fax: 607-273-6620
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