DIY Plant Fossils

Grade Level: Third Grade, Life Sciences

Overview: Students will learn about the study of fossils, Paleontology. Students will learn how analyzing fossils helps scientists understand what Earth was like thousands of years ago, including plant life. Students will then study about fossils using real plant trace fossils. The teacher will then guide students outside and they will have to choose a native plant and make a trace fossil using a guided recipe. Students will use a science journal to illustrate and write scientific descriptions of fossils based on the trace fossils created from their peers. The class will have to analyze the fossils to provide evidence of the local environment in which they live.