Science.3.12.D

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The student is expected to

identify fossils as evidence of past living organisms and environments, including common Texas fossils.

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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Organisms and environments. The student describes patterns, cycles, systems, and relationships within environments.

Fossils provide evidence about the types of organisms (both macroscopic and microscopic) that lived long ago and also about the nature of their environments. Fossils can be compared with one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences.

the circumstances, objects, or conditions that surround an organism including abiotic (climate and soil) and biotic (living organisms) that act upon an organism or an ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival

a remnant, impression, or trace of an organism of past geologic ages that has been preserved in the earth's crust

an individual form of life, such as a plant, animal, bacterium, protist, or fungus; a body made up of organs, organelles, or other parts that work together to carry on the various processes of life

Research

Royce, Christine Anne. 2004.“Teaching through Trade Books.” Science and Children 42, no. 2 (October 2004): 22–24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43173705. 

Summary: Teachers can use children’s books to help teach students how scientists use fossils, including those found in Texas, to interpret plants and animals of the past. In this article, students need to start to understand what is considered evidence and how that evidence can be used to make explanations. The article outlines an activity for elementary students to help them understand how scientists use fossils to determine things about the past. Teachers should start by clarifying common misconceptions students have about fossils and animals that existed long ago. Students collect items such as twigs and leaves and use them to create casts and molds. Students can swap casts with others in their class and use their observation skills to try to determine what item the cast was made from.