Laetoli Trackway Puzzle
This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection.
HideSummary
Using the Laetoli Footprints, students will explore how scientists use current patterns to understand the past. Students will answer the questions:
What do the footprints tell us?
How do scientists find that out?
Students will measure and correlate their foot lengths and body heights and use that data to estimate the height of the Laetoli hominid.
Collapse
Learning Goals
Understand that observations of present life can provide clues to life in the past.
Understand how observations leads to scientific explanations and interpretations of ancestor of humans and what information can be gathered from the fossil record.
Context for Use
Description and Teaching Materials
HomininTrackwayAnalysis (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB May24 17)
foot topo (Acrobat (PDF) 539kB May26 17)
footsteps (Acrobat (PDF) 503kB May26 17)