Investigations in Science 7 – May 24, 2019

Coming Up:

 Relative Dating
 Mass Extinctions

Dates:

 May 24 – Outsiders Day

 May 27 – No School
 May 30 – Relative Age and Fossils Review Sheet Due
 May 31 – Relative Age and Fossils Assessment
 June 11 – Fun Day
 June 14 – Last Day of School/Early Dismissal

What we did this week:

Monday and Tuesday, we dissected owl pellets. Owls swallow prey whole and
aren’t able to digest the bones and hair of their meal. They regurgitate (throw up)
the bones and hair in a pellet. Scientists (and budding scientists) dissect the
pellet to learn about what the owl is eating. These pellets act as small fossil
collectors. We identified the bones based on the animal and part of the body.

We then turned our attention to relative dating. Relative dating is the

science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object
in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (an
estimate). We looked at different examples of rock layers and determined the
order from oldest to youngest. We used four principles help to determine the ages.

Along with studying the layers to determine age, we studied how index
fossils can help determine the age of rocks and other fossils. Index fossils are
fossils that were only around during a particular time period and used to help
identify the time period of other fossils. Students practiced determining the age
of the rock layer based on the fossils present.
Have a great weekend!