What are Fossils?
Fossils are the ancient remains of organisms. Fossils are rocks. They can also be molds, such as footprints.
How are fossils formed?
The plant or animal dies. The skeleton gets covered in sand or mud. More and more layers of sand or mud pile on top of the skeleton.
After at least 10,000 years, they turn partly to stone. Now they are fossils!
Over time, wind or water wear away the ground, the fossils peek out, and people find them and dig them up.
WHO SEARCHES FOR AND STUDIES FOSSILS?
Paleontologists are scientists who study fossils to learn about life throughout geologic time. Archaeologists study human artifacts and human remains specifically.
Both paleontologists and archaeologists study fossils, including bones, shells, body imprints, wood, and other things.
Click on the sand picture below to learn more about Mary Anning, the greatest fossilist (fossil hunter) the world ever knew.
You’ll find facts, and a stop-motion video made entirely from sand and rocks found on Mary Anning’s beach where she found fossils in the early 1800’s!
Did you get a fossil hunter kit from the library?
Great! Read the instructions in the kit, and get started!
Unburying your fossils from the brick may take a little time, so maybe watch a video on this page to learn more fossil facts when you need a short break.
If you don’t have a fossil kit, that’s okay too!
There are a lot of places to find fossils in Michigan. Our state stone, the Petoskey Stone, is even a fossil of coral from the Silurian Period 60 million years ago when the land we now call Michigan was a sea! You might find one on the beach of Lake Michigan. There are also rock quarries not far from Ypsilanti where fossils can be found. You might even find a fossil in landscaping rocks near businesses or homes if you look closely because they were often dug from these quarries. Click the button to see a google map of fossil sites.
Then read about a mammoth found in Michigan!
GET INSPIRED WITH THESE FUN FOSSIL VIDEOS
DINOSAUR POOP
Paleontologists study all sorts of things — including dinosaur poop!
PALEONTOLOGIST AT WORK
Fossil hunting is hard work! Here’s a short video of paleontologists in the field.
THE FOSSIL CHALLENGE
What do you think? Is it a fossil, or is it a pseudo (fake) fossil?
READY FOR A LONGER LESSON?
The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC has a great video about the fossilized teeth of elephants, and what we can learn from them.
READ ABOUT FOSSILS AND PALEONTOLOGY
Want to learn more about fossils and paleontology? Explore the books below for some ideas!
Living Fossils: clues to the past
by Caroline Arnold (available as a Hoopla E-book or a print book from the library)
Living fossils, or modern-day animals that very closely resemble their ancient relatives. Meet the coelacanth, horseshoe crab, dragonfly, tuatara, nautilus, and Hula painted frog. All are living fossils. Why have they changed so little over time, while other animals evolved or went extinct? Using contrasting “then” and “now” illustrations, veteran nonfiction writer Caroline Arnold alternates between a prehistoric creature in its native environment and its contemporary living-fossil counterpart. An amazing way to experience the ancient past!
Barnum’s Bones: how Barnum Brown discovered the most famous dinosaur in the world
by Tracey E. Fern (available as a print book)
Barnum Brown was an early twentieth-century paleontologist, named after the famous circus icon by his ambitious parents. He grew up to work for the American Museum of Natural History and discovered the first documented skeletons of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and other noteworthy species.
When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson discovers her T. Rex
From a very young age, Sue Hendrickson was meant to find things: lost coins, perfume bottles, even hidden treasure. Her endless curiosity eventually led to her career in diving and paleontology, where she would continue to find things big and small. In 1990, at a dig in South Dakota, Sue made her biggest discovery to date: Sue the T. rex, the largest and most complete T. rex skeleton ever unearthed. Named in Sue‘s honor, Sue the T. rex would be placed on permanent exhibition at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.
Dinosaur Lady: the daring discoveries of Mary Anning, the first paleontologist
by Linda Skeers (available as a print book)
As a kid, Mary Anning loved hunting for fossils with her father. One day, that hobby led to an unexpected discovery: the skeleton of a creature no one had never seen before! Mary had unearthed a dinosaur fossil, the first to ever be discovered. Her find reshaped scientific beliefs about the natural world and led to the beginning of a brand new field of study: paleontology. For the rest of her life, Mary continued to make astonishing finds and her fossils are displayed in museums all across the world!
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: an illuminating history of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, artist and lecturer
by Barbara Kerley (available as a print book, a Hoopla audiobook, and a Hoopla video)
The true story of Victorian artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, who built life-sized models of dinosaurs in the hope of educating the world about what these awe-inspiring ancient animals and what they were like. This book was illustrated by Brian Selznick and received a Caldecott Honor.
The Magic School Bus: in the time of the dinosaurs
Ms. Frizzle, using the magic school bus, takes her class back in time to see the dinosaurs firsthand.