In this lesson students will be able to interpret past environments from the fossil evidence "discovered" in Delaware.

Topic – Fossils From Our State delaware fossils website Objectives: 1. Students will be able to record observations as they would in a field journal. 2. Students will be able to plot locations on a map using latitude and longitude coordinates. 3. Students will be able to interpret past environmental evidence from fossil clues. Bellwork: Students will play the “Where Am I” game for a location from the state of the fossil hunt. The game will use pictures taken by Randy and Sheri or of the teacher’s choosing. Lesson Introduction: Before students enter the classroom the teacher should tape up the fossil cards (see attached sheet) in various hard to find locations. Each fossil card has the fossil’s scientific name, latitude and longitude location it is found, and a rough sketch of the fossil. This lesson can be completed for any state the ADT passes through. “Student experts” were, under the teacher’s guidance, assigned the tasks of researching the state’s fossil evidence, creating the state map grid, and creating the fossil cards. Activity One: The Hunt. Activity Two: Making a Map. Activity Three: The Paleontologists’ Conclusions “Fossil Hunt” Activity: There are 30 fossils around the room “to be discovered.” As you find each fossil, record its exact latitude and longitude, its scientific name, and draw a rough sketch on the data table. Once you have recorded your finds in the data table, transfer the fossils to the state map by developing a legend based upon your sketches. Be sure to plot each fossil at its correct latitude and longitude of discovery. Use the fossil information sheet to learn about your fossils and decide if they most likely lived in a marine, freshwater, beach, or inland environment. Draw dashed lines on your map to indicate the boundaries between different environments. Lightly shade in your map with the appropriate color based on your research (marine = purple, freshwater = light blue, beach = yellow, inland = green). Write a paragraph describing the various environments found in this state at the time your fossils were living. Include any implications this may suggest for neighboring states’ environments to develop a regional setting if possible. Activity Four: Review Quiz or Game to test students ability to observe fossil characteristics that would distinguish between a land or a water environment.