How Fossils Form

Lab Brief #6

🎯 Your mission

Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).

⚡ The twist

Today's mountain was yesterday's ocean floor.

What you'll learn

Fossils are preserved remains or traces of ancient organisms. They form when organisms are buried in sediment that hardens into rock over millions of years.

Key words

sediment
Bits of sand, mud, and rock that settle and pile up.
fossil
The preserved remains or print of a plant or animal from long ago.
rock cycle
The slow process where rocks change from one type to another.

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: where will the water go first?

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

rocks
water
plastic tray

⚠️ Safety first

Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and keep the material away from your face.
Mop up spills straight away so nobody slips, and keep liquids away from sockets.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Model erosion: tilt a tray of soil and pour water from a cup at the top. Observe how channels form. Try adding plants or rocks to slow the erosion.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Watch carefully for any changes and note the time.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Create a data table to organize your measurements.

Question 1 of 3

How do fossils form?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

Which type of rock forms under heat and pressure?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

What type of rock forms from compressed sediment?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🌋 There are 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth right now.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: How Clouds Form All lessons

🎯

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✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This is shaping the ground you walk on, slowly, every single day.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Find a rock outside and try to guess how old it is.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the slowest change you can think of?”

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