Fabricating Fossils

Make fossils in your classroom using plaster of paris. Give each group of students 9-inch pie tins, plaster of paris, water, and petroleum jelly. Have them find personal items or items outside, such as sticks, rocks, and bones, to make fossil imprints. Prepare the plaster of paris. Rub petroleum jelly on both sides of the items to be imprinted. Place the items in the plaster of paris and either leave uncovered or cover with more plaster. Let dry and later remove items to see the "fossil imprints."

After fossil imprints have dried, students can split open their plaster fossil to look at

the cast (if the item has been totally covered by plaster) or just remove casting item

so that the fossil imprint can be viewed. Set out all the fossils and have students

identify other class fossils. Have students hypothesize what the fossil was and why.

Discovery School, http://discoveryschool.com/spring99/programs/grandcanyon/activities.html