In this imaginary fossil hunt, students learn about the uncertainty of science and the fact that, as new evidence is revealed, ideas may change. As they follow a script read by the teacher, students find (remove from envelope) paper fossils of some unknown creature, a few at a time. Each time, they attempt to reconstruct the creature and each time their interpretation tends to change as new pieces ... Full description.

In this lesson, students are given a variety of materials and are asked to design a heat loss experiment that will result in a reasonable explanation of why whales do not have legs. Students will learn that natural selection favors a body design that is energy efficient. Full description.

This lesson provides teachers with a highly effective way of presenting paleontology and earth science principles with limited classroom time. The main idea is to emphasize the thought processes that paleontologists use in their work. By answering certain questions and learning certain principles, students are compelled to think about the process of scientific reasoning. The process consists of taking ... Full description.

This site, from the San Diego Natural History Museum, contains a group of thirteen classroom activities, based on the film entitled Ocean Oasis. These science activities offer an interdisciplinary approach, involving language arts, mathematics, and history/social studies, as well as science knowledge and skills. They may be used individually, with or without viewing the movie, or as an integrated ... Full description.