Questions for Further Exploration

This page was written by Erin Klauk as part of the DLESE Community Services Project: Integrating Research in Education.

Open-ended questions allow students to explore scientifically significant questions while focusing on their own interests. Here are a few general questions that apply to paleontoloty. These are self-guided exercises for high school or undergraduate students, and could be applied in any paleontology unit.

Questions Include:

1. Why is a pile of bones in a field not a fossil? What makes a fossil? What ways of an animal fossilizing can you think of?
2. What is the difference between science and science as it is portrayed in the news?
3. What could make a fossil unscientific?
4. What would you do if you found a bed of fossils while you were out hiking around? Why?