What is a fossil?

 

Fossils are the remains or prints of animals and plants that have been preserved in rocks.  Quite often, only the hard parts of an animal, such as the teeth or bones, are left.  The rest has rotted away.  But even when nothing remains of an animal, it may have left a hollow, the exact shape of its body, in the rock.  Sometimes an anima left a footprint when it when it walked in soft sand or mud.

A single footprint may be all that remains of an animal that was big as four cars.  Fossils can take millions of years to form.

 

 Please talk to your adult helper before you visit other sites!!!!!

ORGANIZATIONS

The Wildlife Trusts run geology clubs for children called Rock Watch. To find out more contact: http://www.wildlifetrust.org.uk
The Geologist Association can be found on http://www.geologist.demon.co.uk

MUSEUMS

The Natural History Museum (London) has a great website on http://www.nhm.ac.uk/science/palaeo
The Charmouth Heritage Center  covers the fossils of the Lyme Regis/Chramouth area of Dorset on http://csweb.bournemouth.ac.uk/consci/coastlink/charmouth.htm
Another good museum site is the Royal Ontario Museum, which has a nice page for kids on http://www.rom.on.ca/quiz/fossil/

WEBSITES

If you want a site about fossil hunters of the past then go to the Zoom site on http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/glossary/Paleontologists.shtml

 

 

 

                                                                                         HOME