Students observe and sort a variety of plant and animal fossils and record observations in a chart. Students learn how fossils form by making mold and cast fossils. Finally, students add pieces of fruit to layers of gelatin to simulate how fossils are trapped in layers of rock. From this model students infer that the oldest fossils are located in the deepest layers.

Student Resources

• 7.1 Vocabulary
• 7.2 Observing and Sorting Fossils
• 7.3 Food Fossils
• 7.4 Section 7 Assessment
• 7.5 Fossil Cards

Learn by Reading

For additional content-area reading, check out the Houghton Mifflin Science eBook: Grade 2, Unit C, pages 22–26.