Unit 3 Lesson 5 - Sections 1 & 2

Evidence of an animal or plant that lived a long time ago is called...

• a fossil

• a mineral

• a rock

• a mountain

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1

For a ______ to form, material has to cover the remains of the organism to help keep its shape and preserve it.

Some fossils are ​ (a)   of an organism and not the​ (b)   of the organism itself. Fossilized dinosaur footprints, ​ (c)   and burrows that animals made in the ground are examples. They are called ​ (d)  

• remains
• trace fossils.
• bird nests,
• traces

Some fossils form from ​ (a)   especially small ones like insects. Some of these fossils formed when an ​ (b)   got stuck in a tree substance called resin and died. The ​ (c)   hardened into a clear substance called ​ (d)   with the insect trapped inside. This preserved the insect as a ​ (e)  

• whole organisms,
• insect
• resin
• amber
• whole body fossil.

You just learned that there are several different kinds of fossils.

Identify each of these as either a trace fossil, a whole body fossil, or a fossil of only one part of an animal or plant.

a

b

c

only one part

trace fossil

Whole body fossil

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Most fossils form when plants and animals get ________ under the surface of the Earth.

What would cause a plant or animal to NOT become a fossil?

• Getting buried under the surface of the Earth

• Not being buried right away so the body breaks apart quickly

Many fossils that people find are from things that lived in ​ (a)   , like coral and fish. This is because most ​ (b)   happens in low areas like shallow seas. Rivers carry sediment downhill. At the river's mouth, ​ (c)   is deposited. This sediment then covers some of the dead creatures here, eventually preserving them as fossils.

• shallow water
• deposition
• sediment

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1

True or False?

Almost all fossils are found in sedimentary rock

• True

• False

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

True or False?

The soft parts of the animal often rot away and will not become a fossil

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1