Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and her remarkable discoveries

Mary Anning was a ​ ​ (a)   woman who discovered many fossils on the beach. Probably that doesn't seem special, but in her time women weren't expected to become scientists. Mary grew up in ​ (b)   , so her family had to sell whatever they could to survive. She didn't ​ (c)   negative opinions, and she would walk daily on the ​ (d)   beach, ​ (e)   in hand, looking for fossils. She assembled a pretty cool collection!

• remarkable
• poverty
• heed
• rugged
• pick

Some fossils are ​ (a)   in rocks.

• embedded
• crumbled

Waves ​ (a)   the cliffs constantly, changing their shapes with time.

• pummel
• avoid

People say the ocean is ​ (a)   as it is unpredictable.

• treacherous
• remarkable

Mary Anning ​ (a)   through the ocean and looked for fossils among boulders.

• waded
• cluttered

People couldn't believe serpentlike creatures had ​ (a)   in these lands before.

• dwelled
• drenched

Match the following.

• cart

• 
• drench

• 
• cluttered

• 
• snout

• 
• avoid

• 

Most fossils are found in earth that once lay underwater. They are usually formed from the hard parts - such as shells or bones - of living things. After a living thing died, it sank to the bottom of the sea. After the ​ (a)   (b)   , layers of earth, and the remains of other living things built up on top of it. Over time, these layers turned into rock. Eventually, part or all of the living thing's hard parts also turned into rock as minerals ​ (c)   into the rock. The fossil is ​ (d)   between layers and layers of rock and the shape of the hard parts were imprinted in the rock. When some of the boulders ​ (e)   , Mary and her dad were able to find fossils.

• flesh
• decayed
• seeped
• tucked
• crumbled

Match the following words to their antonyms.

• avoid, run ay

• 
• darken

• 
• solidify, harden

• 
• dismantle, fall to pieces

• 
• improve

• 

Match the words to the drawings.

a

b

c

d

e

seep

nursemaid

upholsterer

porpoise

escort