Transcript Fun with Fossils

Oregon Fossils
This lesson is intended for 5th grade students, as a one day
lesson, and part of a larger section on fossils and rocks.
Students would already have an idea what fossils are…
Lindsey Rusch
John Day Fossil Beds
The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is located in North
Eastern Oregon, and is divided into three separate units.
http://www.nps.gov/joda/planyourvisit/maps.htm
Where in Oregon?
A larger map showing the area, compared to where we are in Portland.
http://geology.com/cities-map/oregon.shtml
John Day Fossil Beds
• Well known for preserved plants and
animals of Cenozoic Era (a.k.a. Age of
Mammals and Flowering Plants)
• Record of 40 million of the 65 million years
of that Era
http://www.geotimes.org/mar08/article.html?id=Travels0308.html
Geologic Time Scale
Well known
for this era,
but we have
evidence of
older species
also.
http://www.britan
nica.com/eb/art/p
rint?id=1650&arti
cleTypeId=0
If you were to visit… you would see
National Park Service
The painted hills of John Day Fossil Beds National
Memorial are filled with fossils from millions of years
ago.
How did this area form?
• Layers of rock form fossil
beds - deposited from
volcanic eruptions many
years ago
• 30 million years ago, strong
winds blew ash across
grasslands, marshlands and
forests covering animals
• Now, thunderstorms each
year cause erosion and
uncover 100 different
mammal species
http://www.geotimes.org/mar08/article.html?id=Travels0308.html
Review - Types of Fossils
• Body part: (rare to
find complete animal
fossils) fossilized remains
of body parts of organism
• Trace : records of biological
activity i.e. footprints, burrows
• Cast: leaves, twigs
The word fossil, derived from a Latin word meaning "something dug up"
http://www.oregongeology.com/sub/learnmore/fossils.HTM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trace_fossil#Classification
What do we find in John Day?
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•
•
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Jungle plants
Mammals
Amphibians
Reptiles
For a detailed species list…
http://www.nps.gov/archive/joda/faunaslist.htm
http://www.paleolands.org/find/time/here/C51
Cretaceous Era
100 Millions
Years Ago
This is a coiled
shell mollusk
called ammonite.
Dinosaurs in this
area – it was a
rugged beach!
You can visit, but don’t touch!
• If you find one, notify the park ranger!
• Record location
• Layers of strata tell us how old it is
4 Strata of John Day
•
•
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•
CLARNO strata: rocks formed 50-35
mya - nuts, seeds, leaves, banana tree,
brontothere, amyodonts (giant horses
and rhino like animals), tropical forest
JOHN DAY UNIT STRATA: 37
mya,deciduous forests and relatives of
wolves, pigs, rodents, horses camels,
rhinos
MASCALL: 20 mya, lava divides this
and John Day unit, took 5 years for lava
to cool and plants to regrow, massive
grazers like rhinos and extinct bear
dogs, warm wet grasslands
RATTLESNAKE FORMATION:
youngest, 8 mya, horses, sloths,
camels, pronghorns, rhinos, drier
climate
http://www.geotimes.org/mar08/article.html?id=Travels0308.html
More from John Day…
• Entelodont: giant pigs,
7 feet tall, bone crushing
teeth
• Miohippus: small horse
dsc.discovery.com/.../photo/photo2/slide_06.html
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/vertpaleo/fhc/mioh.htm
And many more…
• Eusmilus: leopard like carnivore
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eusmilis
Eocene Era Plant Example
• 57 to 35 million years old plant casts
• Branches caught in mudflow or moving
waters. Can also be found settled in lakes
or ponds.
http://www.paleolands.org/fi
nd/time/here/C51
Make your own fossil
Materials
•
Ziploc of plaster (mix 1 tablespoon water + plaster in cup)
•
Plastic spoon
•
Paper plate
•
Cup
•
Leaf
1.
2.
3.
4.
Mix plaster and water in cup. Should be thick like pancake batter. Spread
onto plate evenly with spoon. Be very careful not to get plaster near your
face.
Press leaf evenly onto plaster like a stamp. Be careful not to touch the
plaster! If you do, wash hands quickly.
Leave leaf on plaster to set for 7-10 minutes.
Word search! Work alone or with a friend. Take it home if you don’t finish
today.
CLEAN UP – do not put extra plaster down the drain! Dispose of in garbage
only. You may wash your hands using the sink.
How is my fossil like the ones we
might find in Eastern Oregon?
• How Do Fossils Form?
The plaster of Paris is like mud and stones that get deposited over
leaves or animal remains, but the mud takes millions of years to turn
into stone that we see as a fossil. This particular type of fossil is
called a cast.
Other fossils form when animal or plant remains are buried in rock,
mud, tar, volcanic ash or ice. They all take millions of years to form.
Some fossils are actual remains found in ice, amber tar pits, or
sedimentary rocks.
http://starryskies.com/try_this/fossil2.html
1. Sabre-toothed "tiger"
Pogonodon
2. Oreodont Eporeodon
3. Three-toed "horse"
Miohippus
4. Tortoise Stylemys
5. Mouse-deer Hypertragulus
6. "Dog" Mesocyon
7. Oreodont Promerycocherus
8. "Rhinoceros" Diceratherium
9. Chestnut oak Quercus
10. Hawthoren Crataegus
11. Fern Polypodium
12. Hackberry Celtis
13. "Maple" Acer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pbjohnday-d.gif