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Paleontologists are scientists who study fossils. Fossils are often found in remote places all over the world that can be hard to get to. Because of this, paleontologists spend a lot of time outside searching for them. In this activity you will get an idea of what it is like to be a paleontologist. You will need:
InstructionsStep One:Lay 10 popsicle sticks side by side flat on a table. Tape them together on the top and bottom then flip them over. Step Two:Draw a picture of one of the extinct animals from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument on the popsicle sticks. Step Three:Take the tape off the popsicle sticks and mix them up. Have someone else take the sticks and hide them. If you have a sandbox you can have the other person bury them in the sand. Or they can hide them all in a different room. Paleontologists can spend a long time hunting for fossils before they find any. Much of the time is spent looking for a good site. Once a fossil is found, the hardest part of the process starts. The scientists have to excavate and remove the fossils from the ground. This often is very difficult and takes a lot of hard physical work to do. And then they have to get the fossils they dig out ready to be moved to a lab for study! Step Four:Find the popsicle sticks! You can use brushes or other tools to excavate them out of the sandbox or go searching for them at your “site” in your house. Use the paper and pencil to take notes about where you find the sticks and the position they are in. Are they lying flat or on their side? Are they standing up? Are they close together or spread out? Are any on top of each other? In the field paleontologists take detailed notes, photographs, and measurements while they excavate fossils. This way they can learn as much as possible about the fossil and past environment. Step Five:Once you find the sticks put them back together like a puzzle. You can let someone else try to put it together. Did you find all of the pieces of your fossil? Unfortunately, complete fossils of an organism are extremely rare. Usually there is a piece missing from the fossils we find. When this happens, paleontologists have to use their imagination and deductive reasoning to make educated guesses and fill in the missing pieces. Once the fossil is put together, we can then study it. At Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, paleontologists study the fossil of plants and animals that lived in the Florissant valley during the Eocene (about 34 million years ago) and Ice Age of the Quaternary (about 50,000 years ago). Most of the fossils found in the Florissant Formation are plants and insects. But mammals, birds, and fish have also been found. What kind of organism is your fossil?
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Join interns Nichole and Astrid as they guide you through a fun activity that shows how paleontologists piece together the puzzle that is the ancient history of life on Earth. New Words!
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Last updated: August 16, 2022