Monday December 8, 2014

LT: I can describe how fossils can be used to study the evolution or changes of organisms

Name_________________________ Date: ____________ Class Period:____________

DIRECTIONS: Read the information below and follow the direction carefully!

In this activity, we will be playing a team of scientists working in the field in Chile, South America. We are experts in TRANSITION FOSSILS-fossils that show characteristics of different organisms and how they have changed or evolved over time, from one species to another.

Part 1: On the first day of our work we find a well-preserved and complete fossil set of bones in the top shallow layer of the ground, but we need to piece them together to try and figure out what they are.

It is too late in the day to continue with the dig, so you return to camp with your find. That night, in camp, after dinner we begin to assemble the bones we found earlier. Since the bones were all found together and in an undisturbed layer, we assume that they are all from the same animal. We spend the rest of the evening trying different arrangements of the bones in hopes of identifying the animal.

Fossil C:  ACTION!!!

Take out fossil C pieces and put them together. Now answer the questions below…

1.     What type of animal do you think this is a fossil of?

2.     Why do you think that?

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Part 2: We head out for another morning of digging. Just the kind of day you need to get work done at the dig. We dig even deeper in the ground today. We find another set of fossils in an undisturbed layer. Today it is early in the day when we make our find, so we have plenty of time to try and assemble it before heading back to camp.

Fossil B:  ACTION!!!

Take out fossil B pieces and put them together. Now answer the questions below.

1.     What type of animal do you think this is? Why do you think that?

2.     How fossil B similar to fossil C?

3.     How is fossil B different from fossil C?

4.     Is fossil B older or younger than fossil C?

Part 3: The next day is cold. It is the last day of the digging season. At the end of the long day and after digging even farther down into the ground, we find another full set of fossil bones in an undisturbed layer. We have to hurry to put the bones together so we can get on the road and head back to our laboratory.

Fossil A:  ACTION!!

Take out fossil A pieces and put them together. Now answer the following questions below.

1.     What organism do you think fossil A comes from?

2.     Is fossil A older or younger than fossil B or fossil C? Why?

3.     How is fossil A different from fossil B?

4.     How is fossil A similar to fossil B?

5.     Are there any similarities between fossil A and fossil C? What are they?

Part 4: Now we are back in the laboratory and we are able to use carbon dating to find out that fossil A is 52 million years old. Fossil B is 45 million years old, and fossil C is 40 million years old. We also have access to our fossil library. We are going to use the fossil library to determine which animal, fossil C comes from.

Fossil C 40 million years old

Fossil B 45 million years old

Fossil A 52 million years old

ACTION!

Look through the fossil library and try to identify fossil C. Then answer the questions below

1.     What animal is fossil C? Check with Ms. Mac once you do this

2.     Now that you know what the fossil is, what big discover can you make about how it has changed over time?

3.     Based on your fossil evidence, where did this organism used to live before it was the ancestral whale?

4.     Where did it live at the time of its death?

5.     Why do you think it may have evolved or changed this way?

6. What environmental conditions do you think occurred to make it change in this way?