Fossil Club

Science 8 Alternative Assesment

What are the ways fossils form?

Amber

If an insect gets caught and surrounded in tree sap, the insect will be stuck. the tree sap will eventually dry, and the insect's body will be preserved in the sap.

Asphalt

Asphalt comes from tar pits that rise out of the earths surface in thick, sticky pools. The asphalt traps and preserves fossils for many many years afterwards.

Buried in Rock

Sometimes when an organism dies, it is buried by sediment. The sediment slows decay, and preserves parts of organisms. The hard parts of organisms remain inside the sediment as it hardens.

Become Frozen

If an organism dies in a cold area, it can freeze with the soil, and be preserved by the ice. Ice slows decay, and can preserve corpses for very long periods of time.

Become Petrified

Petrification happens when the tissues in an organism are replaced with sediment. Sometimes the pore space in the hard tissue in organisms are filled with minerals.

Heres a small 11 minute video on fossils. It talks about the fossils above, and lots of extra fossil stuff.

All video credits go to Iken Edu. I do not own this video, nor do I take credit for it.