How a Fossil Forms

Put the steps in order and know the conditions: quick burial, hard parts, a very long time.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 22

Most living things never become fossils. It takes special conditions. Let's follow a fish.
First, the fish dies and sinks. Mud and sand bury it quickly, before animals can eat it.
The soft parts rot away, but the hard bones are left. More layers pile on top and slowly harden into rock.
Millions of years later, water or wind wears the rock away, and the fossil is uncovered!

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Science:

S3E2.b — Develop a model to describe the sequence and conditions required for an organism to become fossilized. (Clarification statement: Types of fossils (cast, mold, trace, and true) are not addressed in this standard.)