DIGGING IN TIME: STORIES FOSSILS TELL

Scientists study fossils for two basic reasons: 1) to understand the history of life on Earth, and how living things have evolved through time; and 2) as a tool to help decipher the ages of the earth materials in which fossils are found. This activity is meant to introduce students to fossils; what they look like, how they form, where they are found, and how they may be used to answer "larger" questions. We have used the following hands-on-activity effectively in college introductory biology and geology classes. The activity has been effective for our students who are media, art and communications majors, who are taking science classes to complete their General Education credits required for graduation. We intended that the activity would help students fulfill the General Education science outcome "to develop basic scientific literacy, demonstrate scientific thinking skills, and understand the scientific method of inquiry". Recently, we have modified this activity for high school biology and earth science classes where it has initially met with the same success and student enthusiasm. The activity as we've presented it is intended to be modified to fit whatever the individual teacher or department has available in the way of fossils.

The activity is divided into two parts: The first part is written for teachers who decide to try this activity in their classes. The second part is the complete students' handout and student review and discussion questions that are actually given to students who participate in the activity.