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2. 2 Notebook #5 April 13, 2016 8.E.6A.4 Following these notes you will be able to construct and analyze scientific arguments to support claims that different types of fossils provide evidence of (1) the diversity of life that had been present on Earth, (2) relationships between past and existing life forms, and (3) environmental changes that have occurred during Earth’s history.

3. What is a fossil? Fossils give clues about organisms that lived long ago. They help to show that evolution has occurred. They also provide evidence about how Earth’s surface has changed over time. Fossils help scientists understand what past environments may have been like. A fossil is a mineral replacement, preserved remains, or traces of organisms that lived in the past Fossil Record: a collection of fossils and their placement in chronological order; it documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms and environmental changes throughout history of life on Earth. What do fossils tell us?

4. HOW IS A FOSSIL FORMED? 1. Sediment An animal is buried by sediment, such as volcanic ash or silt, shortly after it dies. Its bones are protected from rotting by the layer of sediment. 4. Erosion Erosion from rain, rivers, and wind wears away the remaining rock layers. Eventually, erosion or people digging for fossils will expose the preserved remains. 2. Layers More sediment layers accumulate above the animal’s remains, and minerals, such as silica (a compound of silicon and oxygen), slowly replace the calcium phosphate in the bones. 3. Movement Movement of tectonic plates, or giant rock slabs that make up Earth’s surface, lifts up the sediments and pushes the fossil closer to the surface.

5. FIVE MAIN TYPES OF FOSSILS Petrified Fossils Molds and Casts Carbon Films Trace Fossils Preserved Remains

6. The word “petrified” (permineralized) means “turning into stone.” Petrified fossils form when minerals replace all or part of an organism by soaking into the buried remains. Water is full of dissolved minerals. It seeps through the layers of sediment to reach the dead organism. When the water evaporates, only the hardened minerals are left behind. PETRIFIED FOSSILS PETRIFIED FOSSIL The Field Museum in Chicago displays a fossil of a Tyrannosaurus rex.

7. MOLDS AND CASTS A mold forms when hard parts of an organism are buried in sediment, such as sand, silt, or clay. The hard parts completely dissolve over time, (decaying of the organism) leaving behind a hollow area with the organism’s shape. MOLD FOSSIL This mold, or imprint, is of an extinct mollusk called an ammonite. A cast forms as the result of a mold. Water with dissolved minerals and sediment fills the mold’s empty spaces. Minerals and sediment that are left in the mold make a cast. A cast is the opposite of its mold. CAST FOSSIL This ammonite cast was discovered in the United Kingdom.

8. All living things contain an element called carbon. When an organism dies and is buried in sediment, the materials that make up the organism break down. The soft mud or clay squeezes almost all of the decaying organism away leaving the carbon imprint in a rock. Eventually, only carbon remains. The thin layer of carbon left behind can show an organism’s delicate parts, like leaves on a plant, stems, flowers, or fish. CARBON FILMS (Carbonized) FERN FOSSIL This carbon-film fossil of a fern is more than 300 million years old.

9. TRACE FOSSILS Trace fossils show the activities of organisms. An animal makes a footprint when it steps in sand or mud. Over time the footprint is buried in layers of sediment. Then, the sediment becomes solid rock. The mud or sand hardens to stone where a footprint, trail, or burrow of an organism was left behind. FANCY FOOTWORK This dinosaur footprint was found in Namibia, Africa.

10. Some organisms get preserved in or close to their original states. Here are some ways that can happen. PRESERVED REMAINS Amber An organism, such as an insect, is trapped in a tree’s sticky resin and dies. More resin covers it, sealing the insect inside. It hardens into amber. Tar An organism, such as a mammoth, is trapped in a tar pit and dies. The tar soaks into its bones and stops the bones from decaying. Ice An organism, such as a woolly mammoth, dies in a very cold region. Its body is frozen in ice, which preserves the organism—even its hair!

11. Thousands of layers of sedimentary rock not only provide evidence of the history of Earth itself but also of changes in organisms whose fossil remains have been found in those layers. –Erosion and weathering of sedimentary rock layers can cause the destruction of fossils and result in gaps in the fossil record. 11

12. Certain environmental conditions favor certain fossil formations. They type of fossils found in an area can explain the environmental changes that have occurred. –The rapid burial of organisms, most likely occurs in marine environments, means a greater likelihood that the remains of marine organisms will be preserved. –Flash floods and volcanic ash falls help preserve land organisms. 12

13. Certain fossilized organisms could only live in specific environments of under particular conditions. Extinction of life forms as well as how and when new life forms appeared is part of the fossil record. Fossils can show structural similarities and differences in organisms over time, revealing the vast diversity of life forms that have and continue to exist on Earth. 13

14. Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record enable the understanding of the diversity of life that has been present on Earth. Comparisons between living organisms and fossils also allow scientists to make inferences about the lines of descent. 14

15. Video: Becoming a Fossil http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/04/3/l_043_01.html PBS Article: Major Fossil Find http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751945 Scholastic News Online Online Exhibit: Fossil Halls http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/fossilhalls American Museum of Natural History Interactive Game: Fossil Hunt http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/dino-death-trap-2998#tab-fossil-hunt National Geographic For more on fossils visit: Scholastic Classroom Magazines. www.scholastic.com Photo Credits: PAGE 1: UTAH MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (DINOSAUR); PHOTOTAKE INC./ALAMY (ANT). PAGE 3: 5W INFORGRAPHIC (GRAPHIC). PAGE 4: Jason Lindsey/Alamy (DINOSAUR); Peter Bowater/Alamy (MOLD); David Lyons/Alamy (FERN); Hoberman Collection UK/Alamy (FOOTPRINT); John Cancalosi/Alamy (MANTIS). PAGE 5: Gary Crabbe/Alamy (DINOSAUR). PAGE 6: Peter Bowater/Alamy (MOLD); Detail Heritage/Alamy (CAST). PAGE 7: David Lyons/Alamy (FERN). PAGE 8: Hoberman Collection UK/Alamy (FOOTPRINT). PAGE 9: John Cancalosi/Alamy (MANTIS); R1/Alamy (TAR PITS); Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis (MAMMOTH).