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Study Guide Science Grade 4 Fossils and Extinct Animals

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17 views

Study Guide Science Grade 4 Fossils and Extinct Animals

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Supasinee R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FOSSILS AND EXTINCT ANIMALS

Extinct Animals
Many animals have become extinct over millions of years. Extinct means
that no longer living on Earth. When a species is extinct, it means there
aren’t any animals of that kind living on Earth. Animals that are extinct
include dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, and dodo birds.

Lesson Checkpoint:
Name one animal that you know is extinct.

Reasons for Extinction

Extinction is believed to be caused for different reasons, such as:


• Environmental changes, which include dramatic temperature changes
on Earth. Many times
Signanimals
In could not Up
Sign adapt to these environmental
changes, which is what scientists believe to be the reason some animals
are now extinct.

• Another reason that is believed to have caused some animals’ extinction


is competition. When animal resources such as habitats, food, and
water become limited, animals have to compete for those resources. The
stronger animals most often win out when competing for resources while
the weaker animals may become extinct.

• Some animals may be extinct because of human actions. Many animals


lose their habitats because humans destroy them by cutting down trees
and building houses and roads where habitats existed. When an animal
doesn’t have a place to live, it often dies off, which leads to extinction.

• Over hunting is also another cause of extinction. Over hunting is when


humans hunt animals too much and eventually the animal species that is
being hunted dies off completely.

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Endangered means an animal is close to becoming extinct but there is still
time and hope for that animal species’ survival.

Lesson Checkpoint:
What is one reason animals become extinct?

Fossils
How do we know about animals that once lived on the Earth millions of years
ago but are now extinct? Answer is…(drum roll please)…by studying fossils!
A fossil is the remains or evidence of a once-living organism from long
ago. Fossils form in sedimentary rock.

Steps to becoming a FOSSIL:

Step #1: The animal dies.

Step #2: The animal’s dead body settles to the bottom of body of water.

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After death and once in its final resting place, the soft part of an animal’s
body will decay. Decay means to break down or rot.

Step #3: The animal’s dead body is covered with sand, dirt, and mud
(sediment) forming many layers on top of animal’s remains.

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When the dead animal is covered in sediment, the materials in the animal’s
remains may be replaced with minerals in the sediment and harden into rock.

Step #4: The last step in becoming a fossil is the fossil appearing above
ground. Over many, many years the rock layers weather and
erode away, causing the fossil to become exposed.

Lesson Checkpoint:
What is the first step in fossil formation?

Types of Fossils
Fossils are formed in different ways. A space that is found in rock that is in
the shape of an animal that once lived on Earth is a fossil called a mold.
Below you can see sea shell shapes etched in the rock. These are fossil
molds from the shells.

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A fossil that is made when the mold of an animal in rock is filled in with
other rock material is called a cast.

Some fossils are even found in hardened tree sap. Hardened tree sap is
known as amber. Organisms’ bodies can be preserved in amber for millions
of years.

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Fossils can form in tar pits as well. Some animals fell in tar pits millions of
years ago and the soft body parts of the animals broke down and decayed
but their bones were preserved.

Lesson Checkpoint:
What is one type of fossil and how is it formed?
Fossils can tell us a lot of information…like what, when, where, and
how old

WHAT: Fossils show us what animals lived on Earth millions of years


ago and how animals have changed over time. Scientists can use
fossils to see how animals have changed over time.

Fossils give clues to what the Earth was like millions of years
ago.
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WHEN: Fossils can also tell when certain animals lived on Earth
according to the layer of rock the fossils are found in. Fossils
buried deeper are older than the fossils found above them.

WHERE: Scientists can figure out where organisms once lived by where
they find its fossil.

HOW OLD: Scientists can often figure out how old a fossil is according to
the layer of rock it is found in.

Lesson Checkpoint:
What information do scientists get from fossils?

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Not all living organisms become fossils. Conditions in the environment
around a dead organism need to be just right in order for the animal to
become a fossil. It is important for an animal’s dead body to be quickly
covered with sediment and to remain covered so the animal remains are
not eaten or exposed to bacteria.

Paleontologists are scientists who observe, examine, and study fossils in


order to find out about the past.

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© Copyright NewPath Learning. All Rights Reserved.


Permission is granted for the purchaser to print copies for non-commercial educational purposes only.
Visit us at www.NewPathWorksheets.com.

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