Pre-Visit Activity Guide

Mystery Dig Activity Station

The goal of this activity is to conduct a simulated fossil dig and try to identify an unknown creature from its structure.

All organisms have specific structures and functions that help them live. Many organisms share common structures and functions. In this activity, the students will uncover a buried skeleton and try to identify the organism based on its bone structure. Since this is a simulated fossil dig, they should treat the fossils in the box as delicately.

	Begin by splitting your group in half. Each group will work in one half of the box. No more than three students should dig in each half of the box at the same time. If you have more than three students in each group, have the students take turns digging and recording what is being found. For example: if each group consists of four students, have three students from each group begin the dig and the fourth take notes on what the diggers find. Then rotate the group so that the note-taker has a chance to be a digger.
	The students who are digging should use the provided brushes to gently brush the sand away from the bones. Remind the students that just as in a real fossil dig, these bones are fragile and their position in the sand is important to record. The students should take care and work slowly.
	Inquiry Question: Why would an Archeologist or a Geologist use brushes? (To keep from damaging very old fossils and artifacts)
	Inquiry Question: How do you record what you have found? Is it important to record how the bones are originally found in the sand?
	Inquiry Question: Is it important to takes note of the other objects found in the sand?
	Have the groups compare what they each found and, working as a team, have them describe the entire shape of the fossil creature.
	Note: The animal in the mystery box is a mature adult.
	Inquiry question: Do you notice any similarities between the fossil you uncovered and your own bone structure? Name those similar bones and what their function is in your own body. Do you notice any differences between the fossil's bone structure and your own? What are those differences?
	Inquiry Question : Describe what you think the fossil is and why. What important feature about the skull helped with the identification? (Ask the students to look at the skull's teeth. How are the teeth shaped? You may want to point out that the teeth are similar to a dog's. Is a dog a carnivore or an herbivore? Based on its teeth, what kind of animal do you think this creature is?)
	Inquiry Question: What helped you to determine that it is a sea creature? (Students might note the crab and clam shells next to the skeleton.)
	Before the group leaves, make sure they cover up the dig site as thoroughly as possible, so the next groups can get a chance to discover the fossils as well.

HMSC Education Program Home | Survival Guide | Station Descriptions | Floor Map | Suggestions for Chaperones
Mystery Dig Pre-visit Guide | Mystery Dig Activity Station | Sand Sleuth Pre-visit Guide | Sand Sleuth Activity Station
Shells of the World Pre-visit Guide | Shells of the World Activity Station

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Last Update: February 24, 2004

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