Ready to learn!

You no longer need to be connected to the Internet to play this Mystery.

Remember, if you close this tab you’ll have to download the Mystery again.

Where can you find whales in a desert?

Where can you find whales in a desert?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
Video trouble?

DISCUSS:

What do you think this belongs to?

mystery-fossil
Video trouble?

DISCUSS:

So far, Doug has found fossil seashells and a fossil shark tooth. What other fossils do you think Doug would find in the quarry?

Video trouble?
Video trouble?
Step
01/16
Find a partner.
Video trouble?
Step
02/16
Get these supplies. You’ll get more later.
Video trouble?
Step
03/16
Write your name on this Fossil Dig sheet. Cut along the 2 dotted lines
until you reach the stop signs.
Video trouble?
Step
04/16
Put the page with your name in it on top of the other page. Then fold
stickers over both pages near the arrows.
Video trouble?
Step
05/16
Open the top layer, Layer A, of your fossil dig. Examine the fossils
that you find in this layer.
Video trouble?
Step
06/16
Look at the traits of each fossil. Then fill in question #1 on your
worksheet and discuss with your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
07/16
Discuss. Then fill in question #2 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
08/16
Open Layer B of your fossil dig. Examine the fossils that you find in
this layer.
Video trouble?
Step
09/16
Fill in question #3 on your worksheet and discuss with your partner.
Video trouble?
Step
10/16
Discuss. Then fill in question #4 on your worksheet.
Video trouble?
Step
11/16
Get the rest of your supplies.
Video trouble?
Step
12/16
Cut out your Mystery Fossils.
Video trouble?
Step
13/16
Observe the traits of your Mystery Fossils. Sort them into two piles.
It’s ok if it’s hard to tell where some belong.
Video trouble?
Step
14/16
Place them into their fossil layer. Then glue them in.
Video trouble?
Step
15/16
Discuss these questions.
Video trouble?
Step
16/16
Discuss these questions. Then watch the next video.
Video trouble?
Video trouble?

DISCUSS:

Do you think habitats have changed in other parts of the world besides Illinois? How could you find out?

Video trouble?
Slide Image
Slide Image

habitat


1 of 13

the place where an animal or plant lives
Slide Image

desert


2 of 13

a habitat that is usually hot and that gets very little rain
Slide Image

forest


3 of 13

a habitat with lots of trees
Slide Image

grassland


4 of 13

a habitat with mostly grasses and very few trees
Slide Image

ocean


5 of 13

a habitat that is a large area of salt water
Slide Image

polar


6 of 13

a habitat that is very cold
Slide Image

quarry


7 of 13

a large, deep pit that people remove rock from
Slide Image

trait


8 of 13

something you can observe about a living thing, such as the broad fins of a fish
Slide Image

fossil


9 of 13

the remains of a plant or animal that lived a very, very long time ago
Slide Image

observe


10 of 13

to pay close attention to something
Slide Image

claim


11 of 13

to say or write an idea
Slide Image

evidence


12 of 13

information that can be used to support or reject an idea
Slide Image

model


13 of 13

a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with

Featured Reviews

“The fossil dig for the kids was amazing. Everything was scaffolded so nicely that ALL students were successful. ”
· Jennifer · Teacher
“The students really enjoyed adding the "mystery fossils" to their dig. As an educator, I love the step-by-step directions for the students. They are so easy to understand!”
· Emily · Teacher
“I teach SDC SH and all my students were engaged. We did the lesson whole group. It was visually engaging, easy to follow, and the reproducible was fun for the kids to complete. Great lesson.”
· Roxana · Teacher
“The kids were very excited about this one! Now they want to dig up the ground! Thanks for another fantastic lesson and activity!”
· Elizabeth · Homeschooler
“This was so well-done! The kids learned so much!”
· Heidi · Teacher
“So fun and the students were really engaged. ”
· Tammy · Teacher
“The students did a great job justifying where they placed their fossils. They were really able to look at specific traits and use that information in their answers.”
· Lesley · Teacher
“This was way more fun than the old version! The kids really liked sorting the fossils and the video at the end had them REALLY talking! They learned quite a bit about traits and it is great to connect to habitat studies. ”
· Deborah · Teacher
Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep
THIS LESSON WAS REVISED ON JULY 1, 2019. Here is a link to the previous version.
In this lesson, students explore the idea that the rock under our feet sometimes contains fossils, and investigate how these fossils reveal changes in habitat through time. In the activity, Fossil Dig, students use paper to create a model fossil dig. They identify traits of fossils to determine what the habitat looked like when these organisms were alive. Then they use this information to figure out where some Mystery Fossils belong in their fossil dig.
Preview activity

I have a Mystery Pack

Fossil Dig printout 1 per student
Fossil Dig Answer Key teacher-only resource 1 per class
Fossil Dig Questions worksheet 1 per student
Mystery Fossils printout 1 per pair
Glue Sticks
1 glue stick per student
Scissors
1 pair per student
Dot Stickers
We prefer stickers because they are easier to distribute in a classroom. Tape will also work.
Details
3 stickers per student
Prep Instructions

We suggest students work in pairs. Homeschool students can work on their own.

Prepare Mystery Fossils

Mystery Fossils will print two per page so you may want to cut each page in half before class. Each student needs a ½ sheet for the activity.

Exploration

10 mins

Hands-On Activity

30 mins

Wrap-Up

10 mins

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Vocabulary

Student slideshow: English | Spanish

Teacher printout: English & Spanish

Unit Reading

Unit Reading

A Whale of a Find

In this reading, students learn the story of how whale fossils were discovered during road work in Chile.

Activity

Activity

Fossil Formation!

This website from the Kentucky Geological Survey includes several hands-on activities that demonstrate how different types of fossils form. It includes a variation on the classic plaster and mold activity using white glue instead.

Video

Video

Meet some paleontologists and watch as they unearth and transport fossils.

  • In this video, paleontologists in Argentina discover and transport fossils to a museum for further study. (4:19, PBS)

  • Meet Mark Rentz, a paleontologist who studies fossils in Florida. Watch this video to see him talk about finding shark and whale teeth in a Florida creek. (3:13, WGCU Curious Kids)

Mini-lessons

Mini-lessons

You can elaborate student learning and engagement with Mystery Science mini-lessons.

If you are in an NGSS state, these mini-lessons support the DCI LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

Transcripts

Credits
 
Animals Lesson 1: Where can you find whales in a desert?

How did the lesson go?
Terrible OK Good Great Terrific!

How can we improve it?

If you'd like our team to reply to you, please Contact Support instead.

Thanks for your feedback! If you have a question or need help, please contact us. Please consider sharing your review:

Sorry the lesson didn’t go well. We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Thanks for letting us know. We’ll wait to ask you for feedback until after you've actually taught it.

Thanks for the feedback! We read every single review in an effort to improve our Mysteries.

Is the video not playing properly?

Please follow these steps:

  1. Very rarely a video will fail to completely load in your browser. Try to reload this page to see if that fixes the problem.
  2. If reloading does not help, try our other video player .
  3. If the video still fails to play, open this video in a new tab

Close

How can we help you?

💡For purchasing info, see our Pricing Page

This episode is locked

This lesson is not included in your limited access.

View pricing

This episode is locked

Your membership is expired. The archive of past Mini Lessons is not included in your limited access.

View pricing