What Are Fossils?

10/10/2020 5:30:00 PM
Image: science.lovetoknow.com

Do you know?

  • Fossils have been found in every continent and are everywhere!
  • Fossils form over periods of millions of years.

Let's explore more about fossils!

FACT: Paleontologists are scientists who study fossils.

Dinosaur fossil. Image: science.lovetoknow.com

Listen and choose the correct answer to each of the following questions.

  • What are fossils?
  • What can we learn about a T. rex?

What are fossils?

  • the remains of past life
  • models made from plastic
  • props used for movies

What can we learn about the T. rex?

  • It is a nocturnal animal.
  • It is a herbivore.
  • It is a carnivore.

Complete the text you are listening to by dragging the correct word to each blank.

Have you been to a museum? If so, you may have seen dinosaur bones. These bones are . Fossils are the of past life. They could have been animals, such as dinosaurs, or they could have been plants.

We find fossils underground. Scientists use tools to them . It is important to dig for fossils. Fossils tell us about an animal. Let's pretend you find a T. rex fossil. With this fossil, you can guess its age and how big it was. You can guess how it died. You may guess more interesting things. For example, you can guess how the T. rex moved and how fast it moved.

We all these good guesses together. Then we can how the T. rex lived. With enough fossils, we can learn a lot about a place. For example, we can know which animals were eaten. We can also know which animals ate the other ones! And, yes, the T. rex was one of them!

Read and answer the following questions.

What Are Fossils?
Written by Marvin Ferraz

People dig out fossils near Denver, Colorado. Image: edition.cnn.com

Have you been to a museum? If so, you may have seen dinosaur bones. These bones are fossils. Fossils are the remains of past life. They could have been animals, such as dinosaurs, or they could have been plants.

We find fossils underground. Scientists use tools to dig them out. It is important to dig for fossils. Fossils tell us about an animal. Let's pretend you find a T. rex fossil. With this fossil, you can guess its age and how big it was. You can guess how it died. You may guess more interesting things. For example, you can guess how the T. rex moved and how fast it moved.

We gather all these good guesses together. Then we can imagine how the T. rex lived. With enough fossils, we can learn a lot about a place. For example, we can know which animals were eaten. We can also know which animals ate the other ones! And, yes, the T. rex was one of them!

According to the passage, what kind of fossils are there?

  • There are only fossils of plants.
  • There are only fossils of animals.
  • There are fossils of plants and animals.
  • There are fossils of rocks and humans.

According to the passage, the fossil of a T. rex does NOT tell us about ____.

  • how old it is
  • how big it was
  • how fast it moved
  • how much food it ate

What can we NOT infer from the passage about the fossils?

  • Fossils are interesting to explore.
  • Fossils are displayed in museums.
  • Fossils are buried underground.
  • Fossils are something you can buy.

Put the right word in each blank. The sentences are from the text.

  1. We all these good guesses together.
  2. These bones are .
  3. Then we can how the T. rex lived.
  4. We find fossils underground. Scientists use tools to them .
  5. Fossils are the of past life.

Put the right word in each blank. These are new sentences for words in the text.

  1. More than a dozen people were of the avalanche alive.
  2. This may be over 2 million years old.
  3. The of lunch were still on the table.
  4. I waited while he up his papers.
  5. I can't life without the children now.