Becoming a fossil is not easy. Most shells or bones decompose or get eaten. This radio broadcast describes how a group of scientists are dropping bags of potential fossils in the ocean to see just what it takes to turn them into stone. The clip is 2 minutes in length. Full description.

400 million years ago, in the early Devonian era, over half of all the creatures in the ocean were suddenly killed. This radio broadcast explains how millenia later, one scientist has finally found the possible culprit: trees and plants that evolved to produce soil excessive in nutrients. This soil washed into the sea, producing algae plumes and ultimately, low oxygen conditions that killed many marine ... Full description.

This site discusses the fossils of a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops that were evidently fighting and somehow were buried in mid fight. There are three parts to the site. The first part allows the student to view the fossil through the eyes of a paleontologist. The second part explores some theories of how the animals were rapidly buried and the third part gives students the opportunity to match ... Full description.

This information about other types of living things that coexisted with the dinosaurs describes the major types of plants and animals that lived during the Mesozoic Era, what they did and how they interacted. It points out that the diet of dinosaurs and other animals is known through the existence of coprolites. There is also a section that describes the insects of that time. Full description.

Students will have the chance to see some strange and unusual dinosaurs they have never heard of when they can play with the cladogram. A cladogram is like a family tree. It's a way of organizing dinosaurs based on the unique characteristics they share, like a three-toed foot or a hole in the hip socket. In order to see the information the student will roll over a dinosaur's name to see its picture, ... Full description.

This interactive site discusses where and how to find dinosaur fossils. It leads students through factors such as the type of rock, age of rock, type of map to use, and the known fossil sites in North America including Deer River in Alberta, Hell Creek in Montana, the Connecticut River valley, and the Dinosaur National Monument on the border of Utah and Colorado. There is a brief description for each ... Full description.

Paleontologists seldom have the good fortune to find a complete set of remains of an ancient organism that is wholly intact. For instance, the discovery of a frozen woolly mammoth carcass, preserved hair and all, was a truly rare event. More common are discoveries of incomplete remains, such as bones, teeth, or hair, and trace fossils, such as footprints or leaf impressions, which indicate an organism ... Full description.

This slide show presents images of dinosaur bones and shows paleotologists at work excavating and preserving these fossils, the best evidence remaining of these long-lost creatures. A background essay and discussion questons are included. Full description.

This National Park Service (NPS) educational site contains a slide show introduces the concepts behind the science of paleontology. Specifically, this show discusses how paleontologists put clues together to interpret what happened millions of years ago in the history of the Earth. This includes using maps and stratigraphic columns to find places to look for fossils, removing fossils from their locations, ... Full description.

This activity, designed to simulate an archeological dig, allows students to experience the difficulties when interpreting an archeological discovery. They will demonstrate an understanding of model building, use problem solving to put unknown entities together in a sequential manner, and answer questions related to an organisms structural and/or anatomical design, possible habitat, and way of securing ... Full description.