Our classroom "scientists" created fossils on Wednesday, let them dry out overnight, and examined them on Thursday. We created fossils from "class made" play dough and sea shells. Then, on Thursday, we examined our creations and discussed why fossils would be important to a habitat (so we can study what it was like long ago). Students were amazed to discover that actual shell fossils had been discovered in the Blue Ridge Mountains, letting scientists know that once, long long ago, our mountains had been covered by water! We had a great time creating them and, if you'd like to create your own fossils at home, below is the recipe:
"Homemade Play Dough"
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
1 tbsp oil (can be cooking oil or baby oil)
1/2 cup of water
variety of sea shells, leaves, etc. to create a fossil
*Mix all ingredients in a gallon zip lock baggie, kneading together the ingredients. Once ingredients are mixed, add more water, slowly, to create the dough.
*Once ingredients are kneaded to form a dough, we used paper cups, cut in half, to put our dough in (or you can roll it out on wax paper, as well). Students pressed shells into the dough to make an impression. (If your dough is too "sticky", add some flour at the top before pressing the shell into the dough).
*Let the dough dry overnight to create your fossil! :)
