Classroom ‘Fossil’ Exercise
Complete fossils of a dinosaur are a rare discovery. Most fossils show only a part of a dinosaur, and scientists must extrapolate from the partial evidence what the whole dinosaur looked like, and behaved. This is a very difficult task.
To re-create the experience of paleontologists in your classroom, have students bring an item (or ‘fossil’) from home that they feel represents them. Place all ‘fossils’ anonymously in a large box. One at a time, have each student pull a ‘fossil’ out of the box. If this item were to be unearthed in the future - like a fossil - what facts could be learned about the student and their life by this item? Have each student try to identify facts and details about the owner of the item. How many facts versus fiction were generated? What features or characteristics of items made the best ‘fossils’? What if two or more of these items were unearthed together, can more information be learned from the fact they were found together?
Exercise 5 – Bones (Advanced School Activity)
If your classroom has access to bones, try viewing them in these three ways: with your eyes, through an optical microscope, and through an electron microscope. Each of these microscopes offers different levels of magnification. After you’ve observed the bones, compare what you’ve seen to the pictures of fossils being seen by youth ambassadors in Utah. What are the similarities and differences between the bones and fossils? What are the biological functions of bones?
Exercise 6 – Fossilization Foundations (Advanced School Activity)
Insect and plant fossils are also found in abundance in the planet’s tectonic plates, across different time periods and geographical locations. Compare the conditions necessary for fossilization of insects, plants, and bones. Interested students may also consider how and why stalactites form in caves? What similarities and differences exist between stalactites and fossils? Is a stalactite a fossil? What is a stromatolite, and is it a fossil? Are there stromatolites in present-day Utah?
Exercise 7 - Science Experiment: Fossilization chemistry, transforming a sponge into a brick (Advanced School Activity)
Together with your Science teacher, propose an experiment to illustrate solid formation in a chemical reaction (key words: precipitation reaction, calcium carbonate). Can that reaction be used to fill the void-space of a porous material, such as a sponge?
Links
Dinosaur Asteroid Mass Extinction
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130212--chicxulub-asteroid-dinosaurs-volcano-mass-extinction-environment-science/
Space Asteroid Dinosaurs
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/08/us-space-asteroid-dinosaurs-idUSBRE91618A20130208
Dinosaur Killing Asteroid
http://www.space.com/19681-dinosaur-killing-asteroid-chicxulub-crater.html
Scholastics Review of Meteorite impact & Extinction of Dinosaurs
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorations/space/libraryarticle.asp?ItemID=135&SubjectID=135&categoryID=6
The Real Jurassic Park
Although not exactly reviving non-avian dinosaurs, there is a gentleman in Siberia who is attempting to recreate a pre-human ecosystem and ultimately populate with extinct animals. See: Ice Age Jurassic Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene_Park_(Kolyma_River)
Dinosaurs, Movies, and Reality
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/buzz/popular.html
Jack Horner’s Plan to Bring Dinosaurs Back to Life
http://discovermagazine.com/2009/apr/27-jack-horners-plan-bring-dinosaurs-back-to-life#.UWSHgjnsmEk
Can we bring dinosaurs back to life?
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/dinosaur-back-to-life
DNA has 521-year half-life
http://www.nature.com/news/dna-has-a-521-year-half-life-1.11555
How to Hatch a Dinosaur
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/09/ff_chickensaurus/
Volcanoes, Not Meteorite, Killed Dinosaurs
http://www.livescience.com/25324-volcanoes-killed-dinosaurs.html