Earth Science
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Millions of years ago, the South Dakota that we know today was a densely vegetated coastal wetland. This dig site was once home to the Edmontosaurus, a huge plant-eating duck-billed dinosaur that traveled in herds of thousands. Now it’s a deathbed. WATCH THE SEGMENT

I took the samples we collected to South Elementary I stopped in on my friend Jenny Woodward’s 4 th grade class in my hometown of Danville, Indiana. . Using the sifting techniques we learned from William at the Children’s Museum, we found some microfossils, and studied the . WATCH THE SEGMENT
300 million years ago, Indiana was at the bottom of a shallow ocean. It was this ocean and its sea life that created the limestone deposits that Indiana is known for today. WATCH THE SEGMENT

Erosion occurs when a force like water, moves sediment, which is mud dirt and sand, over the Earth’s surface. As time goes by, erosion can do some amazing things. WATCH THE SEGMENT

It’s what we don’t see that can be the most important find we ever make: microfossils. You know microfossils are everywhere in Indiana, under your feet, under your fingernails. But when you find some cool microfossils, we stop here at the Children’s Museum to talk to William Ripley. WATCH THE SEGMENT

As soon as fosils are exposed, it’s a race to save them, because they will disintegrate back into dirt and dust. The way we do this in the field is by putting a jacket around them made of plaster, aluminum foil, and wood for support. WATCH THE SEGMENT

This episode is available as a Podcast through our partners at Inside Indiana Business.

 

Select a lesson.

[OPEN/CLOSE]      Mining and Land Reclamation – A Classroom Simulation

[OPEN/CLOSE]     The Name Game – Exploring Dinosaur Names

[OPEN/CLOSE]     Student Paleontologists - Delving into Microfossils

Lesson development assistance provided by:
University of Indiana



 

 

Download a Word or PDF document of this list.

•Dinosaur

• Microfossils

• Museum

• Cave

• South Dakota

• Scientists

• Discovery

• Fossils

• Ancient

• Bones

• Paleontologist

• Coastal wetland

• Edmontosaurus

• Duck-billed

• Herds

• T-rex

• Secondary deposit

• Crocodile

• Turtle

• Fresh water

• Gastropods

• Skeleton

• Humerus

• Indianapolis

• Fragment

• Food chain

• Nanotyrannosaurus

• Paleozoic

• Flexicalymene

• Trilobite

• Brachiopods

• Snails

• Specimens

• Ocean

• Shallow Ocean

• Limestone

• Deposits

• Crinoids

• Echinoderm

• Starfish

• Sea lily

• Stem

• Cyathocrinites multibrachiatus

• Marine fossil

• Shelbyville, Indiana

• Mammoth

• Mammal

• Pleistocene

• Jaw

• Index fossil

• Environment

• Climate

• Ecosystem

• Microscope

• Lake Michigan

• Conservation

• Mining

• Gold

• Coal

• Resource

• Energy

•Prehistoric

• Topsoil

• Subsoil

• Shale

• Mudstone

• Fault

• Combustible

• Electricity

• Reclaim

• Erosion

• Surface

• Sediments

• Cave

• Cavity

• Sandstone

• Lava Tube

• Ice cave

• Sea Cave

• Sedimentary Rock

• Speleology

• Explorers

• Cave formations

• Co2

• Carbon dioxide

• Soil

• Chemical reaction

• Acid

• Dissolve

• Calcite

• Minerals

• Stalactites

• Stalagmites

• Ceiling

• Floor

• Exposed

• Disintegrate

• Preparation

• Lab

• Rock

 

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