Dr. Louis Jacobs and Dr. Bonnie Jacobs lecture to a group of SMU students, Jones Ranch excavation site. Hood County, Texas, 1998. 

Let's dig for some background knowledge to see what you already know about dinosaurs & fossils and how these things can teach us what Earth looked like millions of years ago!

Do we have dinosaurs on the Earth today? Then how do we know that they exist? What evidence have we seen?

means the study of all ancient life. It is all about plants, animals, mammals, fish, birds, insects, reptiles, anything that lived on the Earth. Paleontology is packed with mysteries about living things such as plants and animals that lived thousands, millions, and billions of years ago. To solve these mysteries, paleontologists use 

Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient life (something living from the past) that are usually buried in rocks. Fossils can be bones, teeth, leaf impressions, nests and footprints. This fossil evidence reveals what our planet Earth was like a long time ago.

 is like a big jigsaw puzzle, with most of the pieces missing! Most of the fossils of living things will never be found. They may be buried too deep, or they may be in parts of the world where no one is digging. Even to this day, paleontologists continue to piece together the stories of Earth's past!

Looking back through the fossil record, scientists can see a timeline tracing billions of years of Earth's history, when certain species flourished, when they declined, and the evidence of five mass extinction events.

It's your turn to be a Dino Detective! Just by looking at this fossil, what can you tell? 

No, you cannot determine its skin, color, the sounds it made or how it moved around. BUT you can make educated guesses using information about animals that live today and that is exactly what paleontologists do! 

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Standards for Background Knowledge: Dino Detective

Next Generation Science Standards