CU 2.06Fossils

1. 1

   Take out one fossil and hold it with two hands. Invite the child to hold it the same way.

2. 2

   Say: 'This is a fossil. It was once a living thing, a very long time ago. Now it is part of a rock.'

3. 3

   Show the picture card of the animal or plant it came from and lay them side by side.

4. 4

   Look at the fossil with the magnifying glass and find the lines, ridges, or veins.

5. 5

   Match each remaining fossil to its picture card.

6. 6

   Bury the fossils in the sand tray. Show how to dig slowly with the scoop and brush the sand away.

7. 7

   Invite the child to dig, then match each fossil found to its card.

What catches the child’s eye

• The coiled ammonite and the segmented trilobite, which look like nothing alive today
• The tip of a fossil appearing as the brush sweeps the sand away

Extensions, easiest to hardest

1. Learn the names of the fossils with three-part cards
2. Sort fossils into plant and animal
3. Look at the Allosaurus picture and the bone wall photograph and find where Utah fossils were found on the state map
4. Press a shell into damp clay to see how a trace fossil keeps a shape