Summer 2 – Topic -week 5 (wk. 29.6.20) – Darwin’s Delights

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

How a fossil is

made

Learn how a

fossil is formed

and explain.

Draw your own

fossil

Draw a fossil of

your choice and

describe it.

What is a

palaeontologist’s

job?

Explain what a

palaeontologist

does as a job.

R.E ultimate

question

Consider the

question ‘Who

am I?’

Marking

Mark your work

please and

correct if

needed.

Monday

Date: Monday 29nd June

Title: How are fossils made?

After an animal dies, the soft parts of its body decompose leaving the hard parts, like

the skeleton, behind. This becomes buried by small particles of rock called sediment. ...

Minerals in the water replace the bone, leaving a rock replica of the original bone called

a fossil.

Only a small fraction of ancient organisms are preserved as fossils, and usually only

organisms that have a solid and resistant skeleton are readily preserved.

TASK:

1. Write the date and title into your Topic book.

2. Watch the video and read through the information.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z9bbkqt/articles/z2ym2p3#:~:text=After%20

an%20animal%20dies%2C%20the,particles%20of%20rock%20called%20sediment.&tex

t=Minerals%20in%20the%20water%20replace,original%20bone%20called%20a%20foss

il.

3. Read through the PowerPoints ‘Fossils and Evolution’ and ‘How fossils are

made’

4. In your Topic book, explain how a fossil is formed using your own words. If you

have time, please add a diagram to support your explanation.

Example:

After an animal dies, the soft parts of its body decompose leaving the hard

parts, like the skeleton, behind. This becomes buried by small particles of rock

called sediment.

As more layers of sediment build up on top, the sediment around the skeleton

begins to compact and turn to rock.

The bones then start to be dissolved by water seeping through the rock.

Minerals in the water replace the bone, leaving a rock replica of the original

bone called a fossil.

Tuesday

Date: Tuesday 30th June

Title: Fossils

1. Visit the following website and have a look at the ‘Fossil Focus’ section:

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/time/fossilfocus/fish.html

If you have time, please also visit and have a look around:

https://geology.com/articles/green-river-fossils/

2. Look at the pictures of the fossils. Observe them carefully and have a think

about:

Some adjectives to describe the fossils.

Do the fossils resemble anything that you recognise that is alive today or are

they different?

How are they different?

2. Write the date and title into your Topic book.

3. Draw a diagram of a fossil you are interested in (see ‘Fossil information’ for help

or use the information from the websites) and describe it in as much detail as you can.

(You may wish to research your fossil further to provide more information.)

4. If you have time, please visit this website and have a look around to gain a better

understanding of the types of fossil there are.

https://www.dkfindout.com/uk/dinosaurs-and-prehistoric-life/fossils/

4. Ideas: Does it look like anything that is alive today? How? What are the

similarities and differences between your fossil and what we have alive today?

Any questions you may have about your fossil?

Fossil Information

Ammonites

Ammonites are related to the squids and octopuses you can see today, but they're all

extinct - they died out at the same time as dinosaurs.Their shell is usually a flat spiral

shape. It is made up of chambers, like little rooms within the shell, connected by a

tube. The animal only lived in one of these chambers and used the other spaces to help

it float. Some ammonites were tiny, others as big as a person.

Ammonites lived in the sea. If you find an ammonite fossil in a rock, you know that

millions of years ago the spot where you're standing used to be totally underwater.

Good places to find ammonite fossils: Lyme Regis in Dorset and Runswick Bay in

Yorkshire

Common in rocks aged: about 201 to 66 million years old (Jurassic and Cretaceous

periods)

Dalmanites myops, a trilobite found in 420-million-year-old limestone rock at Dudley in

Worcestershire

Trilobites

These strange-looking creatures lived hundreds of millions of years ago. They are

distant relatives of crabs and lived in the sea. Some swam, while others walked on the

sea floor. By 251 million years ago they had all disappeared.

Trilobites were many different shapes and sizes. Their bodies had three main parts - a

head, body and tail. They had a hard cover on their back. This is usually what we are

looking at when we find a trilobite fossil.

We know that many trilobites could roll up, like woodlice can, as fossils often show

them in this position.

Good places to find trilobite fossils: Torquay in Devon, Marloes Sands in Wales and

Coniston in Cumbria. Two very famous sites are Wren's Nest in Dudley and Girvan in

Scotland.

Common in rocks aged: 485 to 419 million years old (Ordovician and Silurian periods)

A piece of rock containing a single shell of the bivalve Aviculopectin planoradiatus. This

fossil is unusual because you can still see the shell's original V-shaped markings.

Bivalves

Bivalves have two shells, known as valves. Their shells are usually mirror images of each

other.

Bivalves still live in the sea and in freshwater around the world. Some dig burrows in

sand or mud, others just lie on the surface, and some attach to a hard surface.

Oysters, mussels and cockles are probably the most well-known examples alive today.

The oldest bivalve fossils are over 500 million years old. But they are much more

common in younger rocks. Sometimes there are so many fossil bivalves that they form

whole layers of rock.

Good places to find bivalve fossils: beaches and cliffs around the coast of southern,

eastern and northern England, South Wales and southern Scotland

Common in rocks aged: 201 million years old and younger (Jurassic Period onwards)

Top and bottom views of the brachiopod Cyclothyris difformis. This three-centimetre-

long fossil was found in Devon.

Brachiopods

Brachiopods live in the sea, usually attached to a hard surface.

There aren't many different kinds of brachiopod around today, but there used to be,

so there are lots to find and identify. They are very common fossils in rocks over 66

million years old.

Brachiopods look very similar to bivalves, as they also have two shells. The best way to

tell the difference is to compare the size and shape of the two shells. In brachiopods

one shell is usually bigger than the other, and the larger shell has a small hole at the

top.

Good places to find brachiopod fossils: southern, eastern and northern England,

Wales and southern Scotland, particularly on the coast where rocks are exposed

Common in rocks aged: 541 to 66 million years old (Palaeozoic and Mesozoic eras)

A piece of flint broken open to reveal the fossil sponge Ventriculites inside

Sponges

Sponges are ancient animals that mostly live in the sea. Their bodies consist of simple

groups of cells which can arrange themselves into large and complex shapes.

Some sponges produce a skeleton made of silica (the hard substance that sand is

usually made of).

When sponges fossilise, the silica sometimes dissolves and then forms flint. This rock

sometimes preserves fossils, including other sponges. So you can often find fossil

sponges on beaches where most of the pebbles are made of flint. Look out for flint

pebbles with patterns of holes in them.

Flint is usually dark grey or brown but it often occurs in lumps with a thin, white outer

layer.

Good places to find fossil sponges: pebbly beaches in southern and eastern England,

particularly ones close to chalk cliffs

Common in rocks aged: 145 to 66 million years old (Cretaceous Period)

A common heart-shaped sea urchin, Micraster coranguinum

Sea urchins

Sea urchins are related to starfish. They live in the sea, either buried in sediment such

as mud or sand on the sea floor, or on top of it.

Sea urchins are often quite round, and about the size of an apple. They can also be

heart-shaped or a flat disc.

When the animal is alive, its skeleton is covered with skin and many sharp, needle-like

spines. When it dies, the spines fall off, so you won't often find them as part of the

fossil, but you can see the round lumps where they used to be attached.

If you look in chalk rock you might find lumps of flint that have sea urchin fossils in

them. And when you are on a beach keep a look out for a rounded pebble with a

starfish-like pattern on it - you might get lucky.

Good places to find sea urchin fossils: pebbly beaches in southern and eastern

England, particularly those near chalk cliffs

Common in rocks aged: 201 to 66 million years old (Jurassic and Cretaceous periods)

A collection of fossil teeth from the sand tiger shark, Odontaspis robusta. They were

found in Kent.

Shark teeth

A shark grows and loses a lot of teeth during its life. This means that in places where

shark's teeth are found as fossils, they are often extremely common.

The main part of the tooth is usually sharp and pointed, ideal for piercing the flesh of

its prey, and it's attached to a banana-shaped root.

Sharks have been around for a very long time - the oldest shark fossils discovered are

more than 400 million years old. But fossils of whole sharks are rare. This is because

their skeletons are made of cartilage, which is much softer than bone and rarely

becomes fossilised.

Good places to find shark teeth fossils: Sheppey in Kent and Bracklesham Bay in

Sussex

Common in rocks aged: 56 to 34 million years old (Eocene Epoch)

Part of the backbone of Liopleurodon. This huge reptile lived in the sea and was a

fearsome predator.

Bones of dinosaurs and other reptiles

Dinosaurs are probably the most famous prehistoric animals. At the same time as they

were walking about on land, other enormous reptiles were living in the sea. But around

66 million years ago, dinosaurs and most marine reptiles died out.

Because of where dinosaurs lived, their bones are usually found in rocks that formed in

swamps and river valleys. The bones are usually black or brown and you can see a

honeycomb structure on the inside of broken ones.

The vertebrae (parts of the backbone) of marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs and

plesiosaurs are disc-shaped. But beware: pieces of flint can often look like bones.

Good places to find dinosaur bones: Isle of Wight. The best beaches to try are

Yaverland and Compton Bay. Or you may find dinosaur footprints at North Bay,

Scarborough or on the Isle of Skye.

Common in rocks aged: 201 to 125 million years old (Jurassic and Early Cretaceous

periods)

Good places to find marine reptile fossils: Charmouth in Dorset and Whitby in

Yorkshire

Common in rocks aged: 201 to 145 million years old (Jurassic Period)

Common UK fossils

The fossils above aren't the only ones you can find in the UK. Other common fossils

include creatures called belemnites, corals and gastropods, as well as fossil plants.

The Museum's app (National History Museum) covers nearly 90 fossil groups and will

help you identify fossils based on where you find them. It's free to download if you are

allowed by an adult and are able to do so. Follow link for app:

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/take-part/identify-nature/fossil-explorer-app.html

Date: Wednesday 1st July

Title: Palaeontology

Palaeontologists are people who study fossils. Palaeontologists find and study fossils all

over the world, in almost every environment, from the hot desert to the humid jungle.

Studying fossils helps them learn about when and how different species lived millions

of years ago. Sometimes, fossils tell scientists how the Earth has changed.

Task:

1. Write the date and title into your Topic book

2. Watch the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjhDV_GzTM8

Visit the two following sites to help you answer the questions:

https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/paleontology/353591

https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/paleontology

3. In your Topic book, write the subheading What is a Palaeontologist? and

answer/complete the following:

What is palaeontology?

• Write down at least three things you learnt about Palaeontologists.

• Write down three things you would like to ask a Palaeontologist.

• Would you like this job? Why or why not?

Thursday

Date: Thursday 2nd July

Title: Who am I?

Friday

Friday 3rd July

Mark topic work where appropriate- see topic answers for this.

If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to email us.

Seahorses@signhillsacademy.co.uk

Mantarays@signhillsacademy.co.uk

Swordfish@signhillsacademy.co.uk

Year 6