Faculty of Sciences
e-Science Teachers Pack
Issue 15, October 2015
Fossil flowers: Gaining glimpses of an ancient forest
Summary & learning outcomes
Fossils can tell us a lot about different points of history and help shape our understanding of
evolution. There are many types of fossils but fossils of flowers are exceedingly rare. Maars are a
volcanic formation which are ideal for preserving fossils of flowers. These maars are formed by a
very specific type of volcanic eruption, which form craters which become maar lakes. In this pack,
students will learn about why fossil flowers are useful for scientists, how they are formed in maars
and what these fossils tell researchers about past environments.
Learning outcomes:
 Flowers don’t usually form fossils the way other materials do, but can form fossils under very
specific conditions.
 Maar lakes are formed by magma intercepting water on its way to the Earth’s surface, causing a
very specific type of eruption that forms a crater and then a lake.
 The fossilised flowers which form in the laminated layers of diatomite in a maar can tell us about
the plant and animal life that existed in the distant past.
Prior learning
Ask some questions about fossils to see how much students know about them. Many of them will
know about animal skeletons, particularly dinosaurs, being fossilised. Some will know about plant
fossilisation as well. Determine how familiar students are with the processes necessary for
fossilisation – animals caught in lava flows may be commonly known, and some students may be
familiar with other fossilisation methods.
 Brainstorm what students already know about fossilisation. What kinds of things can become
fossils? How are fossils formed? What role do volcanic processes play in this? Why might it be
difficult for flowers to form fossils?
Curriculum
View the relevance of this article and its resources to the Australian Curriculum:
www.sciences.adelaide.edu.au/schools-resources/docs/curriculum-issue15-fossil-flowers.pdf
Lesson plan & learning activities
Lesson 1 – Introduction to flower fossilisation
 Gauge the level of student knowledge about fossils. What kinds of things can become fossils?
How are fossils formed? What role do volcanic processes play in this? Why might it be difficult for
flowers to form fossils? What can fossils tell us about the past? For older students, see how much
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they know about volcanic processes changing the landscape. Where do we find magma? What
happens to the landscape when volcanoes erupt? How does magma change when it cools?
Introduce flower fossilisation and maars through reading “Fossil flowers: Gaining glimpses of an
ancient forest” (Issue 15, October 2015) article as a class (organise students into pairs or small
groups to share resources).
Images within the article can be utilised (printed out or used on an interactive whiteboard) to
reinforce points of importance.
Discuss with the students (as a class) what they learned from the article. Find out:
o Were there things that they already knew about fossils and volcanoes but reluctant to
mention during brainstorming?
o What things didn’t they know? Did they learn anything interesting?
o Are there things they want to find out more about from the article?
Define any unknown words and use them to create glossary of keywords.
View video (see resources list below) if there is time (otherwise show at start of 2nd lesson).
Lesson 2/3 – Volcanoes, fossils and flowers
 Show any remaining videos if you didn’t have time in the first lesson.
 Quick review of points from e-Science article.
 Either individually or in a group, choose one of the following questions to research. Use the
article, useful websites and videos as a starting point and find more information in the library and
on the internet. Remember to record all of your sources and evaluate them for reliability.
 Choose from the following questions:
o What different types of land features are caused by volcanic activity
and how are they formed?
o What are the different ways that plant and animal fossils can be
formed?
o What are some of the different methods flowers use for pollination?
 Once you have found enough information, use what you have learned to create a poster
answering the question you were researching, including images and diagrams where necessary.
 As an extension activity, present this poster to the rest of your class.
Resources
Videos (can be shown through a PC or interactive whiteboard):
 This video provides a magnified view of diatoms under magnification.
https://youtu.be/JYB5529hDPI
 A maar is one of many different land formations caused by volcanic activity. Here are some of the
different features that have formed across New Zealand.
https://youtu.be/5tigRGNgaWE
 Although the fossils of Foulden Maar have been formed in laminated layers of diatoms, there are
many ways that we can get fossils. This video runs through some basic fossilisation methods.
https://youtu.be/TVwPLWOo9TE
 Flowers have a vast evolutionary history. These two interviews from Chicago’s Field Museum
examine just two aspects of a small set of flowers.
https://youtu.be/WgC4Ri0vLeE
https://youtu.be/31wTsLQ1BH8
Useful Websites
 Diatoms are tiny plants which play a major role in the preservation of Foulden Maar’s fossils. This
website contains an in depth look at diatoms including extra information, resources and images
from the Natural History Museum in London.
The University of Adelaide
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http://diatoms.myspecies.info/
 Foulden Maar is one of many maars found around the world. More information about them,
including how they form, can be found at this website.
http://geology.com/stories/13/maar/
 This website gives a good summary of how plants can become fossilised.
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-DawFore-t1-body-d12-d2.html
 A useful list of news articles related to fossilised plants and palaeobotany.
http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilflowers.html
Materials
 “Fossil flowers: Gaining glimpses of an ancient forest” (e-Science Issue 15, October 2015). This
can be supplied on iPad or printed out from the web edition here:
www.sciences.adelaide.edu.au/schools-resources/e-science/
 Volcanoes, fossils and flowers activity:
www.sciences.adelaide.edu.au/schools-resources/docs/activity-volcanoes-fossils-flowers.pdf
Assessment
Teachers should choose assessment rubrics relevant to the year level and topic that they are
teaching.
Summative assessment:
 Posters and presentations from Volcanoes, fossils and flowers activity
Formative assessment:
 Contributions to discussions
 Glossary of words
The University of Adelaide
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