What is a paleontologist?

What does a paleontologist do?

• study the history of life on Earth and organisms that lived long ago

• study the history of basketball

• study animals in zoos

• study different kinds of food

What is work like for a paleontologist?

• They read many books.

• They do a lot of fieldwork like digging for fossils.

• They have to work hard in school.

• They have an easy job.

A paleontologist's job also includes

• creating artwork

• staying at home in bed

• doing research and experiments

• cooking yummy foods

Paleontologists go to sites all over the world.

• True

• False

What do paleontologists do when they find fossils from a new species?

• They do nothing.

• They return the fossil to the dig site where it was found.

• They hide the fossils so they aren't stolen.

• They do more research to make guesses about what the plant or animal might have looked like.

Why might a paleontologist change their ideas about what an animal or plant looked like long ago?

• As paleontologists discover more bones from a particular dinosaur, they may find new ideas like some dinosaurs had feathers.

• Paleontologists can't use fossils to tell what a plant or animal used to look like.

• Paleontologists are not smart.

What skill would help a paleontologist with their work?

• being a good cook

• having patience

• writing good stories