Fossils Views of the Earth’s Past
Dec 23, 2015
Fossils• Fossils• Traces or remains of living things• They can give us clues into the following
– Climate: weather conditions
– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rkGu0BItKM
– Habitat: where they lived
– Food: what they ate
– Appearance: what they looked like
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_DCP4cLVNg
Original Remains
• Ice-whole organisms have been found in ice
• Tar-thick oily liquid that preserves whole organisms
• Amber-Tree Sap-traps insects on trees– Think the movie Jurassic Park
Fossil Formation• Molds and Casts
– molds• Shape of organisms remainscasts-shape was filled in with liquid rock and took shapehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEDfRy6DQns
• Petrified Wood– Stone trees-sediments pour into holes in wood and harden
• Carbon Films– Imprints on rocks of entire animals
• Trace Fossils-leave evidence – Footprints, trails, holes, and even feces left behind
Let’s Make a mold
• Using your play doh! and the shell. We are going to make an example of a cast
• Watch as I demonstrate.
Let’s Make a Cast
• Using your play doh! and the shell. We are going to make an example of a cast
• Watch as I demonstrate.
Let’s Make an Imprint
• Using your play doh! and the shell. We are going to make an example of an imprint
• Watch as I demonstrate.
Let’s Make a model of a trace fossil
• Using your play doh! and the shell. We are going to make an example of a cast
• Watch as I demonstrate.
Ice Cores
• Ice Core-Tubular sample that shows the layers of snow and ice– Vertical timeline– Ice traps air
• Contents of air like dust and ash from volcanoes• Radiation trapped• Thicker layers mean ice ages• Thin layers mean warmer temps