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Fossils
Bones turned to stone, footprints in rock and insects in amber: how fossils form, why so few living things become fossils, and how fossils and radioactive decay help us tell the age of rocks. Based on the Natural History Museum (London), the British Geological Survey, the US National Park Service, the Australian Museum and the US Geological Survey. Three ages, each with a text, an experiment, a game, a quiz, a printable worksheet and a teacher sheet.
Ages 6–7Stories in stoneA fossil is what is left of a plant or animal that lived long ago, kept in rock. Find out how a bone can turn into stone, meet the young fossil hunter Mary Anning, and make your own fossil prints.Ages 10–11How fossils formBody fossils and trace fossils, the conditions a living thing needs to become a fossil, moulds and casts, and why most fossils are of sea creatures. With a fair test to find the best 'fossil mud'.Ages 15–16Fossils and deep timeModes of preservation and the biases of the fossil record; relative dating with superposition and index fossils; and absolute dating with radioactive half-lives. With a coin model of radioactive decay and age calculations.