Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
Centennial Museum Lesson Plan
UTEP Course: MSED 4311- Teaching Science in Intermediate and Middle Grades
Designers: Maria Vasquez, Kayla Villigan
1. Lesson Title: Get Fossilized
2. Grade: 6
3. Time: 45 minutes
4. Learning Objectives
(1) Learners will be able to communicate valid conclusions
(2) Learner will be able to plan and implement investigative procedures
including asking questions, formulating testable hypotheses
5. TEKS Alignment
§112.18. Science (6.2)
(b) Knowledge and skills.
(2)The student uses scientific inquiry during field and laboratory investigations.
(1) The student uses data input skills appropriate to the task.
(2) analyze, review, and critique scientific explanations, including hypotheses and
theories, as to their strengths and weaknesses using scientific evidence and
information
6. Concept Map
Inquiry
images
inferences
borrowed from Google
Fossil
s
7. Materials in the Centennial Museum (Lists and Pictures)
Big Bend Dinosaur Fossil
Ammonite
8. Self-Created Materials (Lists and Pictures)
(1) Carbonization Fossil (2) Ammonite (3) Skin impressions (4) Bones
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
(3) few different fossils (one for each student or pair of students)
(4) Small “jewelry bags” to contain one fossil each
(5) Reference handout for identification of the fossils
(6) Identification Cards
Object name or description
Soft
Hard
pointy Ridges Small/big
1._________________________ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____
2._________________________ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____
3._________________________ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____
4._________________________ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____
5._________________________ __________ _____ _____ _____ _____
Pictures from Science Circus Day (Fossils)
(7)Vocabulary words
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Cast / mold- Molds and casts are three-dimensional impressions in which the surface
contours of an organism are preserved. Organisms buried in sediment slowly
decompose, leaving a cavity that contains an exact imprint of the organisms' shape and
size. When this hollow space fills with material, this material takes the shape of the
mold, forming a cast. Although the fossil may exhibit characteristics of the original
organism, normally no organic material remains.
shells- the usually hard outer covering that encases certain organisms, such as mollusks,
insects, and turtles.
mollusks is a kind of shell-typically a skeleton which encloses, supports and protects
the soft parts of an animal , which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other
classes.
Echinoderm- any of numerous radially symmetrical marine invertebrates of the phylum
Echinodermata, which includes the starfishes, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers, having
an internal calcareous skeleton and often covered with spines.
Arthropod- any invertebrate of the phylum Arthropoda, having jointed limbs, a
segmented body, and an exoskeleton made of Chitin. The group includes the
crustaceans, insects, arachnids, and centipedes.
Trilobite- any extinct marine arthropod of the group Trilobita, abundant in Palaeozoic
times, having a segmented exoskeleton divided into three parts.
Ammonite-The name comes from its appearance: it resembles a ram’s horn
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Course: MSED 4311
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Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
Cenozocic Era-Of, belonging to, or designating the latest era of geologic time, which
includes the Tertiary Period and the Quaternary Period and is characterized by the
formation of modern continents, glaciation, and the diversification of mammals, birds,
and plants
Mesozoic Era-from 230 million to 63 million years ago
Paleozoic Era-from 544 million to about 230 million years ago
Precambrian periods-from about 3.8 billion to 540 million years ago.
fossil- Type I-the remains of the dead animal or plant or the imprint left from the
remains.
Type I includes:
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bones
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teeth
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skin impressions
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hair
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the hardened shell of an ancient invertebrate-
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(an animal without a backbone) like a trilobite or an ammonite, or the
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impression of an animal or plant, even if the actual parts are missing.
Type II- Something that was made by the animal while it was living that has hardened
into stone. These are called trace fossils.
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
Type II includes:
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footprints
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burrows
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coprolite or animal poop
9. Safety Consideration
(1) Wash hands after handling materials for they might be dirty
(2) Handel with care, they are fragile and they can easily break
(3) Do not put in mouth, they are not edible.
10. Scientific Topics
(1) Scientific processes: The student knows how to use a variety of tools and methods to
conduct science inquiry.
(2) describe environmental changes in which some organisms would thrive, become ill, or
perish
(3) Vocabulary for the different fossils and time eras, you can find them on the top of this
page.
11. Opening Activity (hook)
1. students gather in a circle.
2. Before you hand them a “magic bag,”
 Talk about “What is old?” Have the children travel back in time to define old things. The
distance in time will vary greatly depending on the age of the students
 Ask them how they would have to handle something that was 300 million years old? Emphasis
is on the fragility of the fossils.
 Let them know that when you hand them a bag, they are only to carefully explore with their
fingers through the fabric bag. NO PEEKING YET!
3. Hand out a bag to each child.
 Ask the students to carefully feel the fossil inside without looking at it.
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
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Have them describe how it feels. They could predict the type of fossil it might be.
 include a discussion of the body parts of the animal fossil they could be holding.
 Depending on the age and experience of the students, also discuss classifications: shells
often indicate mollusks, but could also be an echinoderm or arthropod.
 Discuss how a fossil is formed: cast, mold, actual animal body, etc. Ask the student to make
a guess from feeling through the bag as to the type of fossil the bag might contain.
4. Invite the students to carefully remove their fossil from the bag.
 Have them reflect on whether the fossil looked as they expected.
 Have the students make visual observations as they did with the tactile observations: body
parts visible, possible classification, etc.
5. Identify the fossils using reference handout. Have students fill out the identification card.
12. Practice for the targeted audience (Assessment for the targeted audience, this will help
us know their prior knowledge and what areas the student needs to address)
Disagree
Agree
1. Scientists learn about Earth's history by studying fossils.
2. Fossils are usually found in igneous rocks.
3. Only the soft part of an organism can become a fossil.
4. Impression fossils are also called track fossils.
5. An organism can be preserved without changing by being frozen in ice.
6. Amber is an insect found fossilized in rocks.
7. Minerals that fill tiny holes in an imprint form mineral replacement fossils.
8. Replacement fossils are all the same color.
13. Practice for younger audience
Students will chose the type of fossil they would like to color. The students will name the type
they have chosen and describe it.
Trilobite
Ammonite
Dinosaur Fossil
14. Practice for older audience
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
Students will learn what types of fossils were around in the different periods such as the
Cenozocic Era, Mesozoic Era, Paleozoic Era, and Precambrian periods. We will have a poster
board with the different era's and what kind of fossils were found in those eras. Student will be
able to connect the proper fossils with the proper era.
15. Assessment for the targeted audience
Short answers
1.What is a fossil?
2.What kinds of things can become fossils?
3.How do you tell how old a fossil is?
4.Where is the best place for a fossil to form?
5.How long does it take for a fossil to form?
Answers
1. the remains of the dead animal or plant or the imprint left from the remains.
2. anything living can become a fossil
3. by looking up the type of fossil in a record system known as paleontology. Due to various
changes in the Earth's climate and environment, most fossils have only a limited age range.
4. most fossils are found on the beach or in quarries
5. There are many types of fossilization. Some take a surprisingly few number of years, and
others occur over periods of millions of years.
16. Assessment for the younger audience
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
In this video students will be able to learn about the basic vocabulary and how fossils are
formed and how long it takes for something to become a fossil. It also talks about where
fossils are mostly found.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwPLWOo9TE
17. Assessment for the older audience
Students will put fossil types into the correct time period correctly. They will identify only a few
of the fossils, for example a sharks tooth, ammonite, trilobite, gastropod, just to name a few.
18. Reference (at least five references, two from the course and three from external sources)
Texas Fossil Investigation
http://ci06.edb.utexas.edu/trc/fieldtrip/imagebank/fossil_mcbee.pdf
What can we learn from fossils
http://oceandrilling.coe.tamu.edu/curriculum/Geological_Time/Fossil_Data/presentation.ht
ml
Fossil lesson plan intro-this is where we got the bag activity for the students
http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/fossil_lesson_plan.html
Mold and Cast fossils
http://www.ehow.com/about_6556194_mold-cast-fossils.html
Fossil succession
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/fossils/succession.html
Wikipedia index fossil
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Index_fossils.gif
Goggle fossil imags
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1093&bih=450&site=imghp&tbm=isch
&sa=1&q=fossil+coprolite&oq=fossil+cop&gs_l=img.1.2.0j0i24l4.22614.24536.0.27660.5.4.1
.0.0.0.101.279.3j1.4.0...0.0...1c.1.wJBrmSGfUu8
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Course: MSED 4311
Instructor: Dr. Pei-Ling Hsu
YouTube video how are fossils formed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVwPLWOo9TE
Clay fossils
http://www.nps.gov/miss/forteachers/upload/brjfossils.pdf
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