coal limestone fossil coral. the organisms’ chapter of the rock story still needs revision. get...
TRANSCRIPT
What do these rocks have in common?What do you see that makes you say so?
(Be as specific and as scientific as you can.)
Coal
Limestone
Fossil
Coral
The Organisms’ Chapter of the Rock Story
“Biotic” Rocks
•Still needs revision.•Get some coral for the kids to look at.•Horn Coral in with fossils
Fossils:Fossils can tell us
about the history of life on earth.
Fossils can tell us about the climate on earth.
Fossils can help us date rock layers.
Types of Fossils - Body
Frozen
Amber (tree sap)
Peat Bog
Bones in rock
Shell in rock
Lightning
Types of Fossils - TraceGastroliths (stones to aid digestion)
Coprolite (poo)
Bite/gnaw marks
Tracks Burrows
Types of Fossils - Mold
Types of Fossils - Cast
Natural vs. Artificial?
Pompeii, Italy
Coal:Plants that live in swampy/marshy habitats
die and turn into peat.Peat is compressed over the course of
millions of years and turned into coal.
Peat: a Step Toward Coal or Oil
Coral:Coral produces a hard
structure that serves as a sort of skeleton. When each generation of corals die their “skeleton” is left behind, building up very slowly year after year.
Coral Castle in Miami, FL
Coral reefs are home to 25% of all
marine species
Coral often grow up around a volcano as it erodes.
(Coral) Atoll
Limestone:Small marine
invertebrates (salt water animals without backbones) use a good deal of calcium in their shells.
The animal dies and the soft parts rot away but the shells remain and build up layer after layer.
The shells are compressed and turned into limestone.
Limestone is made of dead coral and other sea shells
Used for Buildings and Monuments
The Top Layer of Everest is LimestoneWhat does that tell you?
These Horn Coral Fossils are Limestone
What we think the living organism may have looked like.
Fossils:Rock layers can help date fossils and fossils can help date rock layers.
Archaeopteryx is a very famous fossil.
Geologic Time Divisions
Notable Fossils or EventsTime Scale(Million years
ago)
Cenozoic
Abundant mammals, including humans
65 245 550
2,500 3,800
4,500
Mesozoic
Cretaceous
Dinosaurs, flowering plants, birds, mammals
Jurassic
Triassic
Paleozoic
Permian
GymnospermsMass extinction
Carboniferous
Reptiles
Devonian
First amphibians, early insects
Silurian
Land plants
Ordovician
Fish
Cambrian Marine invertebrates ---trilobites dominant
Proterozoic
Aquatic plants
ArcheanEarliest life --- bacteria, algae
Earth formed
Geo
log
ic T
ime
Sca
le
Using Fossils to Date Rock Layers: