Fossils!

What are fossils?

 Fossils are the preserved remains of a living thing

that died.
 Different types of fossils!

 There are 4 main types of fossils!!

 Trace Fossils
 Mold Fossils
 Cast Fossils
 True Form Fossils
 Trace Fossils

 Formed when an
organism leaves an
imprint and that
imprint is filled with
minerals or another
substance like
volcanic ash.
 Teeth marks,
footprints, nests etc.
 Mold Fossils
• The imprint or
impression of a
living thing

• Form after hard

parts have been
buried and then
dissolved by water
 Cast Fossils

 Form when a
mold is filled
in with a
mineral
 True Form Fossils

 A fossil of the
entire body of an
organism
 Formed when the
organism’s
tissues or hard
parts did not
decay
Fossilization?
 Definition of Fossilization

 Fossilization is the process by which a plant or

animal becomes a fossil.
 This process is extremely rare and only a small
fraction of the plants and animals are preserved as
fossils.
 Those plants and animals that do become fossils
generally undergo several key steps.
 Steps of Fossilization

 First, the soft tissue that exists during life decays

leaving behind only the "hard parts" (bone, shell,
teeth).

 Second, hard parts may be transported and

broken. This causes the fossilized remains to be
incomplete representations of the living animal. It
is much more common to find a fragment of shell
or bone than it is to find a complete skeleton.
 Steps of Fossilization

 Third and most important, hard tissues become

buried and altered. In most cases this involves
destroying the original material from which the
hard parts were made as minerals are slowly
dissolved and replaced by new ones.
 Carbonization

 The carbon inside the thing that died stays

 Carbon films!
How the living things died…
 Essential questions

 Answer the following questions in your copy. 10

 Define fossils. 1
 Classify fossils and give a short note on each of the
types. 4
 What do you understand by the term ‘fossilization’?
Explain the steps of fossilization. 5
Thank you