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The Fossil Unit I created began with the topic of: Animals- Threatened, endangered, and extinct. The unit continues with the topics of Dinosaurs, Fossilization and finally, types of food, fossils. The unit begins with threatened, endangered and extinct animals because paleontologists would not know that extinct animals existed if it was not for the study and discovery of fossils. Not only are dinosaur remains fossilized but other extinct species as well. The first lesson serves as background information that if a species does not get the proper shelter or habitat, necessary food and other basic needs, extinction can occur, eventually leading to fossilization. Students will differentiate and diagram the basic needs within familiar ecosystems using t-charts and discussion. The next lesson is on dinosaurs. It is the next buildup leading to fossils. Dinosaurs are a famous, interesting and essential topic. Students will enjoy and be engaged with this topic and lesson prepared for them using several worksheets that they will need to analyze. Students will be challenged by inserting themselves in the mindset of a paleontologists and think about what dinosaurs looked like and behaved. Students will be able to express themselves in their journals. The Fossilization lesson is a great lesson for students to understand how plants or animals are fossilized through its processes while enjoying the learning process through role-playing. The students will be working in groups. This method will help students with multiple intelligences. Students will choose their own environment and roles. They will need to sequence the fossilization process in a game at the end of class. Learning fossils types is the last lesson of the unit. By this time, students should be able to describe the job of a paleontologist. They will again, pretend they are a paleontologists in groups and feel different textures of fossils and learn to identify those using visual aids in the do-now and pictures. The lessons are student teacher centered. The teacher does explain definitions, background and lead discussions but the students will expand and give more detailed examples. Rubrics, checklists and summative assessments are given. Test could be given on the last day of this unit as review.
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