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Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin and I am so excited to be learning all about how fossils are formed with you today.
We are going to do brilliantly.
Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Rocks and soils.
Your lesson outcome for today is: I can describe in simple ways how some fossils are formed.
Now, I know that learning can be a little bit challenging sometimes, but that's okay, because we are going to be working really hard together and we are going to learn some fantastic new things and I will be here to help you.
Let's begin with our lesson.
So here are all of your keywords for today.
Now, you don't need to write these down because I am going to be going over them throughout today's lesson.
However, if you feel that you would like to write them down and it does help you, that's absolutely fine.
You can pause the video here and you can do that.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
And here are all of the definitions for those keywords.
Now, again, I am going to be referring to these throughout today's video, so you don't need to write them down if you don't want to.
But if it does help, you can pause the video here and write them down.
Fantastic, well done.
Now, your lesson is split into two sections today.
Let's begin with the first one, exploring fossils.
So while on holiday in Dorset, Jun found these strange things on some rocks along the shoreline.
Do you know what these things are that Jun found? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
These are fossils.
So you have an ammonite and a fossilised footprint.
Now, fossils tell us about things that lived over 10,000 years ago.
A fossil is the remains or imprint of living things that are sometimes preserved in rock.
So here we have some pictures.
We've got a fossilised egg and a fossilised lizard.
Let's do a quick check.
Fossils can tell us about things that lived, is it A, 10 years ago, B, 100 years ago, C, 1000 years ago, or D, over 10,000 years ago? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here and come back once you have an answer.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
The answer is D, over 10,000 years ago.
Now, fossils can be formed from different plants and animals.
So here you have a plant, which is the living fern, and that's on the left-hand side, the green one.
And then on the right-hand side you have a fossilised fern.
On the top here you have a living fish, and on the bottom you have a fossilised fish.
Now, let's see, can you match the fossil to the living animal or plant that it was formed from? So on the top we have the fossilised version, and along the bottom we have a picture of the plant or the animal.
So I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here and you can come back once you are ready.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
Let's see if you were correct.
So we've got the ammonite fossil there.
This is the fossilised footprint of a dinosaur, and the fossilised fern.
Well done.
Which statement is correct? Is it A, fossils are formed only from non-living things, B, fossils are formed only from living things, or C, fossils are formed from living and non-living things? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here and you can come back once you are ready.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
The answer is B, fossils are formed only from living things.
Now, Jacob, Andeep, and Izzy are talking about how fossils are formed, and Andeep says, "I think all fossils are formed by dinosaurs because only dinosaurs lived thousands of years ago." Jacob said, "I think all fossils are formed by snails because fossils are curly." And Izzy said, "I think fossils can be formed by different plants and animals." So who do you think is correct? If you need to, you can pause the video here if you need to reread the statements.
Otherwise I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.
Off you go.
So the answer is Izzy.
Well done.
Now, it can take millions of years for a fossil to form, but not every living thing that dies becomes a fossil.
So the animal or plant needs to die in a place where layers of sediment can build upon it, usually in the sea or a lake.
Now, most of the fossils we find are animals and plants that lived in water, because water moves the sediment easily.
Usually, when a living thing becomes a fossil,, the softer parts have decayed and only the harder parts like the bones and shells are left for the sediment to build up around.
So the hard teeth and skull here have been fossilised, and the softer skin, the muscles, the eyes, those have not been fossilised.
Now, Andeep says, "I wonder which of these living things could become a fossil." So let's have a look at all of these.
We've got a jellyfish, a caterpillar, tree, and a seagull.
So Andeep is wondering, which of these living things could become a fossil in the future? So what do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.
If you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
So the jellyfish and the caterpillar have bodies that are too soft, and these would decay too quickly to become fossils.
A seagull, on the other hand, has lots of bones in its skeleton and may die near the sea.
So a seagull might become fossilised if sediment builds up before it decays.
Now, harder parts of a tree, like its trunk, may form a fossil.
True or false, very few things that die become fossils? Do you think that's true or false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
The answer is true.
Let's see if you can justify your answer.
Is that because most animals and plants rot away when they die so there's nothing left to fossilise, or is it because only dinosaurs are fossilised when they die? Plants and other animals are all eaten by dinosaurs.
So which of those justifications do you think is correct? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
The answer is A, most animals and plants rot away when they die, so there is nothing left to fossilise.
Now let's have a look at your first task, then.
It says, use a hand lens to look carefully at a selection of fossils.
Talk to a partner about whether you think each fossil has been made by a plant or an animal, and explain why you think this is.
After exploring real fossils, look at the photographs on the next slide, which I'll show you in one second.
And it says, use your observation and reasoning skills to discuss which fossils you think have been made by a plant or an animal and why you think this.
So let's have a look at the photographs on the next slide.
And they're here.
So when you come to do the second part of Task A, you can just skip to this part in the video so that you can see it.
So, what I'd like you to do now is to pause the video here and have a go at that activity.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
Now let's have a look to see whether or not you were correct.
So fossil 1, I think this is a fossil of a plant, and I can see the leaves of the fern.
Fossil 2, I think this is a flower fossil.
It looks a bit like a dandelion head.
And fossil 3, I think this is an animal fossil.
It reminds me of a cockroach.
Fantastic, well done.
Fossil 4, I think this is an animal fossil because it looks like a footprint with three toes, maybe of a dinosaur.
And fossil 5, I think this is an animal fossil.
It is sharp and jagged like a tooth, and perhaps it belonged to a shark! Fantastic work, well done.
Now, that means we are now onto the second part of our learning today, which is all about how fossils are formed.
Now, fossils can be formed in several ways.
So here we have a picture of a pinecone fossil and a shell fossil.
Now, can you guess how these fossils were formed? So I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
So some fossils are formed by hard parts of living things, like bones, feathers, shells, or leaves.
And they were pressed down into a soft sediment like clay before moving away.
And over time, the sediment hardens and the imprint left behind forms a fossil.
So some fossils are formed by something of parts of living things.
Is it an imprint, photographs, or x-rays? So think about what word would fit in that gap there.
Would it be an imprint, photographs, or x-rays? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
The answer is A, an imprint.
Some fossils are formed by an imprint of parts of living things.
Fabulous work, well done.
Now, scientists use models to help us understand things we cannot experience ourselves.
As fossils take over 10,000 years to form, models can be used to show how fossils are formed in different ways.
Izzy decides to make an imprint fossil model using clay and a leaf to help Andeep understand how these types of fossils are formed.
Izzy says, "I am going to make a model of an imprint fossil to help Andeep understand how some fossils are formed." So first, Izzy rolled out some clay to make a two-centimeter thick disc.
Then she picked a leaf and carefully pressed it into the clay.
When she removed the leaf, it left an imprint behind.
And she left the clay imprint to dry, and that created a fossil model.
Now, after two days, the clay dried and hardened, producing a model of an imprint fossil, which you can see here.
And Izzy says, "I can see the shape and details of the structure of where the leaf used to be." And Andeep says, "This model has helped me to understand how imprint fossils are formed." So, let's do a quick check of your learning.
We have Sofia, Jacob, and Laura.
Sofia says, "Models can be used to avoid writing the answers." Jacob says they can be used to "help us to understand things we can't experience ourselves." And Laura says it's to "show how fossils are formed in different ways." Who do you agree with? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer, but if you need longer, you can pause the video here.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
So it's both Jacob and Laura who are correct.
So here is your second task for today.
It says to use a model to make an imprint fossil.
So you will need clay, a shell, and something that is alive or part of something that was once alive.
Now, you're going to roll out the clay to make a thick disc to represent sediment.
You are going to press your object into the sediment to make an imprint.
So this is something or part of something that was once alive.
You're going to leave your imprint model to dry somewhere warm to turn to hard rock, which is going to represent many years.
And then I want you to record your explanation of how a fossil can be formed by an imprint of parts of living things.
So I'd like you to pause the video here and I'd like you to have a go at this activity.
Off you go.
Fabulous work, well done.
So here is an example of one that somebody has done.
So they have their model of an imprint shell fossil, and they have written, "An imprint fossil is made when part of an animal or plant is pressed down into a soft sediment, like clay.
The animal or plant then either decays completely or moves away leaving an imprint of itself.
Over a very long time this soft sediment hardens and leaves an imprint fossil which might be discovered by a fossil hunter." So what I'd like you to do is just to pause the video here and have a look at this example and then compare it to your example.
Have you remembered to include all of the information that you were asked to include? Now, if you haven't, that's okay.
You can add it in now.
So I'll give you some time now.
I'd like you to pause the video and do that.
Off you go.
Fantastic, well done.
So we are now onto the summary of our learning for today's lesson.
Fossils are the preserved remains of things which lived over 10,000 years ago.
Fossils can be formed from different plants and animals.
Not every living thing that dies becomes a fossil.
Some fossils are formed by an imprint of parts of living things, like bones, feathers, shells, or leaves.
Models can be used to show how fossils are formed in different ways.
Well done for your hard work today.
You have worked brilliantly.
There has been so much new information to learn, but you have done a wonderful job.
Fantastic effort.
Well done.