How Palaeontologists Work · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

How Palaeontologists Work

Science · Dinosaurs & Paleontology · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Why do palaeontologists dig with small brushes and picks instead of big tools?

    • To finish the dig more quickly
    • To avoid cracking or breaking the fragile fossil
    • Because shovels are too expensive to buy

  2. What is the very first step in finding a fossil, before any digging happens?

    • Prospecting, searching exposed rock for bone
    • Jacketing the fossil in plaster
    • Publishing a scientific paper about it

  3. Plaster jacketing means wrapping a fossil in plaster to keep it safe during transport.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Count the main stages: prospecting, excavation, jacketing, transport, preparation, study, display. How many stages is that?

    ProspectingExcavationJacketingTransportPreparationStudyDisplay

    Answer: ______________

  5. A team just found bones sticking out of a cliff. What should they do next?

    • Ship the bones straight to a museum
    • Write a scientific paper about them
    • Start careful excavation with small hand tools

  6. Why do scientists wrap a fossil in a plaster jacket before moving it?

    • To protect it from breaking on the bumpy trip to the lab
    • To make the fossil heavier so it won't blow away
    • To clean all the rock off before it leaves the site

  7. After a fossil is cleaned and prepared in the lab, what usually happens before it can go on display?

    • The lab throws it away once cleaning is done
    • It goes straight back to the excavation site
    • Scientists study it and describe it in a published paper

  8. A student says a fossil hunter could just pull a bone straight out of a cliff by hand to save time. What is wrong with this plan?

    • Nothing is wrong, pulling it out by hand is the fastest safe way
    • Careful digging with small tools is needed, or the fragile fossil could crack
    • Bones stop being fragile once they turn to rock
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

How Palaeontologists Work W1-mt_JBWMqZVO7S-s1

  1. To avoid cracking or breaking the fragile fossil · Fossils are fragile. Small tools let diggers clear rock away without damaging the bone underneath.
  2. Prospecting, searching exposed rock for bone · Prospecting comes first. Palaeontologists have to spot a fossil in the rock before they can do anything else with it.
  3. True · That is exactly what a plaster jacket does. It works like a cast on a broken arm, protecting the fossil on the move.
  4. 7 · Go through the list one by one without skipping: there are 7 stages.
  5. Start careful excavation with small hand tools · Excavation comes right after prospecting. Jumping to the later steps risks losing or damaging the fossil.
  6. To protect it from breaking on the bumpy trip to the lab · The jacket acts like a cast, holding the fossil together so it survives the journey in one piece.
  7. Scientists study it and describe it in a published paper · Study and description come after preparation and before display. Scientists need to understand what they found first.
  8. Careful digging with small tools is needed, or the fragile fossil could crack · Fossilised bone is still brittle. Pulling it out without careful digging risks shattering something that took millions of years to form.
Worksheet · LightMySky