January Grandview Program: Fossils

Once a month we have been going out to Rick Evans Grandview Prairie for a hands on educational program.  We did bats and made bat houses in October, learned about the Caddo Indians in November, and learned about Eastern Bluebirds and made bluebird houses in December.  Today our program was on fossils.

I was really excited to be able to go to a program that was on fossils that was NOT evolutionary!  There was no mention of millions of years in this program.  Instead, we heard a talk about fossil basics such as: what is a fossil, how fossils are made, what the right conditions are for forming fossils (rapid burial, kept from oxidation, away from bacteria, and out of reach of scavengers), the different types of fossils, and the scientists who study fossils.

We got to see a demonstration of when an animal dies on the ocean floor and becomes a fossil.

Then the fun began.  We got to make three different types of fossils: amber fossils, cast fossils, and mold fossils.

Examples for the children to look at

We started with the amber fossils.

Then we made the cast models using clay, plastic animals, and Plaster of Paris.

They turned out really great!

Next we made the mold fossils using air dry clay and plastic animals.

Each child also got to take home a fossil to excavate from a hardened cast of plaster.

And the supplies for a fossil lapbook.  Lily worked on hers this afternoon.

There was a recipe included for edible amber fossils.  If I can pick up the supplies we need we may make those this week-end.

It was a great program that all of the children really enjoyed!!