Fossils

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of living things. Fossils

provide clues as to how life has changed over time. Most fossils form
when living things die and are buried by sediments. The sediments
slowly harden into sedimentary rock and preserve the shapes of the
organisms. Fossils are usually found in this type of rock.
Most fossils form from animals or plants that once lived in or near quiet
water such as swamps, lakes, or shallow seas. When an organism
dies, generally only its hard parts leave fossils. Fossils found in rock
include molds and casts, petrified or permineralized fossils, carbonized fossils, and trace fossils.
Other fossils form when the original remains of organisms
are preserved in substances such as tar, amber, or ice.
The most common fossils are molds and casts, which are
copies of the shapes of ancient organisms, and contain details
as to what they looked like. A mold is
Mold and cast
a hollow area in rock in the shape of an organism or part of an organism. A mold
forms when the hard part of an organism, such as a shell, is buried in sediment. Later, water carrying
dissolved minerals may seep into the empty space of a mold. If the water deposits the minerals there, the
result is a cast, a solid copy of the shape of an organism.
Petrified or permineralized fossils are fossils in
which minerals replace all or part of an organism, thus
making them rock-like.
petrified or permineralized
fossil of wood Another type of fossil is a carbonized fossil which is
sometimes called a carbon film, because it is an extremely thin coating of
carbonized fossil or carbon film
carbon on rock. Everything that lives contains some amount of carbon in
them, thus when an organism dies their body will sink into the earth’s layers, decompose, and will leave a
thin layer of carbon showing the body’s characteristics. Usually this type of fossil will focus on the evidence
of the delicate parts such as plant leaves and insects.
Trace fossils provide evidence of the activities of ancient
organisms. Fossil footprints, trails, and burrows are examples of trace
fossils. The organism doesn’t have to die to leave his trace . By
observing trace fossils, scientists can use inference to determine an
animal’s size and behavior, whether it walked on two legs or four legs,
Wooly mammoth found in ice
or it lived alone.
Trace fossil Some processes preserve the remains of organisms with little or no
change. These fossils are called preserved fossils, or originals remains. Organisms
can be preserved in tar, amber, or ice.
 Preserved fossil also called original
When certain fossils are used to help determine the age of rocks or remains, of an insect in amber
other fossils, it is called an index fossil. Index fossils are used to compare, or correlate, rocks exposed in
separate locations. Index fossils can be any of the 6 fossils already mentioned- molds, casts, preserved
remains, petrified remains, trace, and carbon film.
Scientists who study fossils are called paleontologists.
Paleontologists collect and classify fossils on similarities and
when they lived. Together, all the information that
paleontologists have gathered about past life is called the
fossil record. The fossil
record is used to explain the history of life on Earth. The fossil record can
show that groups of organisms have changed over time. It reveals that
fossils occur in a particular order, which may be inferred that life on Earth
has evolved, or changed. Thus, the fossil record provides evidence to
support the theory of evolution. A scientific theory is a well-tested
concept that can try to explain a wide range of observations. Evolution
is the gradual change in living things over long periods of time. The fossil
record shows that millions of types of organisms have evolved. Some
have become extinct. A type of organism is extinct if it no longer exists
and will never again live on Earth.
Paleontologist use fossils to try to provide evidence of Earth's climate in
the past. Fossils can also be used to learn about past environments and
changes in Earth's surface. For example, what did scientists think about
the surface of the Earth when seashell molds and casts were found on
mountaintops?
Ice cores are another thing that scientists use to learn about Earth’s
past environment even though ice can’t be classified as a fossil because it
was never alive. An ice core, which is a tubular sample drilled from
places like the polar ice caps, Antarctica, Greenland or glaciers, shows
the layers of ice and snow that have built up over thousands of years. Ice core

Scientists can learn a lot about ancient climates, including changes in temperature, CO2 concentration, and if
there were volcanic eruptions, all based on air, dust, or ash trapped in the ice.

Name_____Adam jawhary_____________ Fossils

1. The preserved remains or traces of living things are called _____________fossils__________

2. Fossils can give us clues as to __________________________what creatures lived and how long ago they
lived_________________________.
3. Describe the steps as to how most fossils are form.
A. ____________animal dies and soil above turns it into a carbon
fossil______________________________________________________________
B. ________the weight of the soil above turns it into a carbon
fossil__________________________________________________________________
4. What type of rock are fossils usually found? _______carbon fossils_____________________
Why not igneous or metamorphic rock? (previous knowledge)

_______________That’s how It’s formed._____________________________________________________

5. What is sedimentary rock made of?_______fossils or previos

rocks.__________________________________________

6. What do you think? Why do only the hard parts of organisms generally leave fossils?
_________________________Because hey have a higher carbon
content._________________________________________________

7. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about molds and casts
b. A mold forms when the hard part of an organism is buried in sediment.
c. A cast is a hollow area in sediment in the shape of an organism.

8. What is another name for a petrified fossil? _____________Permineralized___________________.

9. How are the fossils in question 8 formed?
________________________________________________Permineralized fossils are formed when minerals
transported by water fill in all the open spaces of an organism or organic
tissue._______________________________

10. What is a carbon film? Thin layer of carbon

11. True or False? A carbon film forms when minerals preserve the delicate parts of an organism. FALSE
12. Circle the letter of each trace fossil.
b. animal trails c. animal shells

13. What can a scientist infer by looking at fossil footprints?

_______________Animal size____________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

14. True or False? Fossils can form only when the remains of an organism decay.

False

15. Preserved fossils are also called _______True form fossils

16. A. What are three substances in which the remains of organisms have been preserved?
a. ____________tar______ b. _________amber_________c._____ice_________
17. Give an example of a preserved fossil. _______________woolly mammoth____________________
18. A type of fossil that is used to help date layers of rock and/or other fossils is known called
an _____index fossil_______ _________________
19. True or False? Index fossils are very different from all the other fossils.
false
20. Scientists who study fossils are called _______________paleonologist__________________.

21. True or False? Paleontologists classify organisms based on their similarities and when they lived.

True

22. All the information that paleontologists have gathered about past life is called the ______________fossil

record_____________________.

23. The fossil record shows a. _______________Info that paleontologists have gathere about past

life__________________________________________

and b. ______________________________________________________________________________

24. The fossil record is used to support the theory of evolution. What is evolution?

__________________________It shows the adaptations from animals and other living creatures. Evolution is living

creatures slowly over time adapting to life and changing over time.

_______________________________________________________________.

25. What is a scientific theory? ______________A theory that is scienific.

_________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________
26. type of organism that no longer exists and will never again live on Earth is _________Exinct_________.

27. Paleontologists use fossils to try to provide evidence of

a. Earth’s ________________life forms______________ in the past

b. Earths ____________Population__________________ in the past

c. __________Fossils________ in the Earth’s ________crust________

28. What do you think? What does the presence of seashell molds and casts on mountaintops tell you about the

surface of the Earth? _____________the water level was

differentt______________________________________________________________
29. What is an ice core? __________________________________animals frozen inside ice(woolly mammoth
picture).
______________________________________
30. True or False? An ice core is a fossil.
False

31. What can ice cores tell scientists about the past environments? ________Pretty much everything fossils tell us but
with more
informaton.____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Essential Questions:
Monday: How would you explain the steps to fossil formation?
Tuesday: How would create a Venn Diagram that explain the differences and similarities among the mold,
cast, and petrified fossils?
Wednesday: How would create a Venn Diagram that explain the differences and similarities among the trace,
carbon, and preserve fossils?
Thursday: How would you create a chart that explains the 3 types of rocks? (Include where they form and the
processes)
Friday: How would you create a chart that explain the 3 types of boundaries? (Include what forms, the
stresses, and faults)