Thames & Kosmos IGIGIT Fossils User manual

EXCAVATION KIT
REAL
FOSSILS
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Contents
4th Edition 2017
© 2014, 2017 Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-
GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart
This work, including all its parts, is
copyright protected. Any use outside the
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is free from copyright or other protection.
Project management: Dr. Mark Bachofer
Text: Ruth Schildhauer, Dr. Rainer Köthe,
Mark Bachofer
Illustrations, layout, and typesetting:
Frieder Werth, Horb
Photos: skilpad ©istockfoto.com (fossil
background), creativ collection (meteorite),
all other photos F. Werth, Horb.
2nd English Edition © 2017, 2019 Thames &
Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA
Thames & Kosmos® is a registered
trademark of Thames &Kosmos, LLC.
Editing: Camille Duhamel and Ted McGuire;
Additional Graphics and Layout: Ashley
Greenleaf and Dan Freitas; Translation:
David Gamon; Copy editing: Dorothy M.
Taguchi, PhD, of The Linguistic Edge
Distributed in North America by Thames
& Kosmos, LLC. Providence, RI 02903;
Phone: [phone]; Web: www.
thamesandkosmos.com
Distributed in United Kingdom by Thames
& Kosmos UK LP. Cranbrook, Kent TN17
3HE; Phone: [phone]; Web: www.
thamesandkosmos.co.uk
We reserve the right to make technical
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Printed in Thailand / Imprimé en Thaïland
1. Excavation block with fossils hidden
inside
a. Atrypa shell
b. Stony coral
c. Snail aggregate
d. Shark’s tooth
e. Fossilized resin
2. Hammer
3. Chisel
4. Sponge
You will also need newspaper, water, a
small bowl, paper towels, and a small ruler.
If any parts are missing or defective, please
contact Thames & Kosmos customer service.
6 3 0 4 61- 0 2 -2 6 0 719

Dear Parents!
Please provide your child with assistance and support when digging out the fossils. Before
starting the experiments, read through the manual together and be sure to follow it. That
way, nothing will stand in the way of a successful dig. Please be careful not to let any
parts of the kit get into the hands of small children, especially the plaster pieces that are
left over after excavating the fossils. These can be disposed of in the household trash.
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Safety Notes
WARNING. Not suitable for children under  years. For use under adult supervision. Read
the instructions before use, follow them and keep them for reference.
This kit contains functional sharp edges or points. Do not injure yourself!
WARNING. Not suitable for children under  years. Choking hazard — small parts
may be swallowed or inhaled.
Follow the instruction manual when performing the excavation. Keep small
children and animals away from the experiment area. Do not eat or drink at the
experiment area. Process the plaster block slowly and moisten it to prevent the formation
of chips and dust. Do not place the plaster material in mouth or eyes. Clean all equipment
and the work area after use. Wash your hands after the experiment.
Keep the packaging and instructions as they contain important information.
Excavating
. Start by looking for a suitable room
where it won’t matter if a few bits of
plaster fall here and there, and that
won’t be harmed by a little dust and
water. Make sure you have sufficient
space available on a level, sturdy table,
which you should cover with a few
layers of newspaper to protect the
surface. Get the excavation block and
tools ready, along with a small bowl of
water. You will also need a small ruler.
. When excavating, proceed like a
paleontologist. That’s a scientist who
studies evidence of life from a long time
ago. Divide your fossil site into squares
by placing the dry sponge on the plaster
block. Use the chisel and ruler to carve a
grid pattern into the surface. The
individual squares should be about the
size of the sponge.

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Excavating
. Start your excavation in any square that
you like. First soak the sponge with
water in the bowl. Then place the
sponge on a square and carefully
squeeze out the water.
. Once you have dug up all the fossils,
clean off any plaster still clinging to
them. Rinse them one by one under
running water while rubbing their
surfaces with the sponge. It’s best to put
the stopper in the drain so you don’t lose
anything. Finally, dry off your
discoveries with a piece of paper towel.
. Next, continue step by step in the same
manner with the other squares — until
you have exposed all the fossils.
Note! After excavating and cleaning your
minerals, wash your hands thoroughly
and clean the work area. Dispose of the
newspaper along with any bits of plaster
in the household trash.
. The water will turn the plaster in the
square quite soft, so you can easily
scrape off the surface with the chisel.
When you come to harder spots, keep
digging carefully with the hammer and
chisel. As soon as you come across a
fossil discovery, try digging gently all
around it. You may have to moisten the
layers of plaster again with the sponge.

Digging Deeper
WHAT ARE FOSSILS?
Earth is very, very old. In earlier times, all kinds
of plant and animal species lived on Earth; they
no longer exist because they have since become
extinct. The best-known extinct animal species
are no doubt the dinosaurs.
We know about extinct animal species because in
many places the remains of their bodies — for
example, their bones, impressions of their skin in
stone, or their footprints — have been preserved.
Sometimes, the entire bodies of insects are even
preserved in amber.
Let’s dig into the world of fossils and the history
of Earth!
WHY FOSSILS ARE EXCITING
Fossils show us how life developed on Earth. Throughout most of Earth’s history,
the only life forms were the size of bacteria. In more recent rock, the remains of
larger animals can be found
—
but only sea creatures such as ammonites and fish.
Only much later did plants and then animals conquer dry land.
The younger the fossil-bearing rock, the more highly developed are the classes of
life forms that can be found within them. The first land animals were insects and
amphibians that had developed from fish. After that, reptiles arose; they were
better adapted to life on land. They in turn were the ancestors of dinosaurs and
mammals, with birds then developing out of a
group of dinosaurs.
Over and over, entire groups of animals became
extinct again
—
sometimes due to catastrophic
events. The dinosaurs (and many other species
living at the time) were wiped out by a massive
asteroid impact.
HOW FOSSILS ARE MADE
When animals die, scavengers
eat their remains or they decay
over time. Only in very rare
cases are their bones or imprints
saved. This may happen, for
example, when they become
embedded in sludge, which can
preserve the remains well due to
its low oxygen content.
Over time, mineral layers, or
strata, may settle on top of them
and protect the animals’
remains. Although the flesh
itself will quickly decay,
mineral-rich groundwater may
penetrate the spaces that
remain behind. This causes the
embedded bones to “turn to
stone”: the bone material is
replaced by minerals, with the
shape of the bone remaining
intact. In some areas rain and
wind may then carry off the
superimposed layers over
millions of years, revealing the
fossils at the surface, where
they can be dug up. Of course,
many more remain undiscovered
beneath Earth’s surface.

Keeping and Displaying Your Fossils
There are many ways of displaying
the fossils that you have dug up. For
example, you can place them in a
display case on a piece of black or
white paper or a piece of black velvet.
Real fossil collectors, though, save
their treasures individually in small
boxes and also label them with their
correct names.
You can easily make boxes like these
yourself. You just need a sheet of
heavy paper (ideally 32-lb paper
from the stationery store, although
printer paper works too), scissors, and
a ruler.
1. For each box, cut a piece of paper 10
cm by 10 cm (4 in. by 4 in.) in size.
2. Fold the sheet diagonally, or from
one corner to the opposite corner, and
then fold the paper back again.
3. Fold each corner to the center and
leave folded.
4. Fold one side to the center and then
do the same with the opposite side.
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5. Unfold the two sides again and
then do the same with the other two
sides.
6. Unfold the sheet and cut along the
lines shown in red.
7. Now you can label the side section.
Fold up the lower corner, and write
the name of the specimen in the
proper place as shown. If you prefer
not to, of course, you can apply an
adhesive label later on.
8. Lift the two triangular side pieces
and fold the A sections inward, with
their tips meeting in the middle of the
box.
9. Then fold the B sections inward at a
right angle, and fold the C sections in
over the B sections.
10. This is how the box should look now.
If it is not stable enough, you can help
hold it together with a few drops of all-
purpose glue. Place some coon wool in
the box, and rest your fossil on top.
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EARTH’S HISTORY —
SHORTENED TO A YEAR
Earth is an inconceivable 4.6 billion years
old. Even if you were just to try counting
that high, you would have to keep counting
without a break for 146 years. But you can
understand Earth’s history better by
thinking of it shortened to a year.
In those terms, our planet came into
existence on January 1. Life developed at the
start of April, but the first fish took until the
middle of November to start swimming the
seas. Dry land was conquered in the
beginning of December. In the middle of
December, the first dinosaurs appeared, and
in the evening of December 26, they
disappeared again. But it was not until
December 31, 4 hours before midnight, that
the first prehistoric man trotted across the
African steppe. And just before the gong
struck midnight on the final day of the year,
modern man appeared.
Check It Out The Fossils from Your Kit
DETERMINING THE
AGE OF FOSSILS
Of course you would want to know
when a given animal species existed
—
in other words, how old a fossil is.
There are several methods for that. For
example, you know that if layers of
rock have been left undisturbed, the
ones on the bottom will be older
—
just
like a stack of newspapers in your
living room. So that gives you a
relative sequence for the fossils
embedded in the rock.
Also, there are radioactive atoms in
nature that change into other atoms at
a certain rate. Based on the ratio of the
two types of atoms, you can determine
the age of the fossil or the layer of rock
in which it is located.
FACT SHEET: FOSSILIZED
SHARK’S TOOTH
The shark from which this tooth came
swam through the seas when
Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs
roamed the land. That was
around 70 million years
ago. At that time, these
elegant predators were
already hunting fish in the ocean.
They were the ancestors of the sharks of today. Sharks often lose and replace
their many teeth, which is why large numbers of fossil sharks’ teeth can be
found in many places.

Check It Out The Fossils from Your Kit
FACT SHEET:
SNAIL AGGREGATE
Snail shells are often very small.
When the snails living inside them
die, they can form a layer of various
shell types on the ocean floor. If this
sediment as a whole becomes a
fossil, you can recognize many
different sizes and shapes of snail
shells within it. Your specimen is cut
in such a way that you can even see
the spiral hollow space inside some
of the shells.
FACT SHEET:
STONY CORAL
This fossil is a tiny part of a long-lost
coral reef. Corals are without a doubt the
greatest master builders in the world.
These are the little creatures that are
responsible for creating mighty coral
reefs, thus building a habitat for an
incredibly diverse array of species. Corals
have been around for many millions of
years. They form a limestone skeleton
that stays behind after they die, which is
clearly visible in your fossil. And when
billions of these
limestone
skeletons have
accumulated,
they become
reefs.
FACT SHEET:
FOSSILIZED RESIN
When the resin of a tree dripped into
marshy water, it formed a drop or clump
that occasionally became preserved as
a fossil. Very old resin sometimes
formed amber, which can be up to 50
million years old. Younger tree resin is
called “copal” —which you will find in
your excavation block. You can polish
its dull surface to a bright shine with a
piece of cotton cloth. Use a drop of
household vinegar to help it along.
Sometimes, the resin became a deadly
trap for smaller animals —such as
insects or spiders —that became caught
in its sticky mass. In that way, the resin
sometimes preserved small creatures
that would otherwise have left no trace
behind.
FACT SHEET: ATRYPA
SHELL
Although this fossil looks like the
shell of a mussel — which is a kind of
mollusk called a bivalve — it is
actually the shell of a brachiopod, a
completely different phylum. In
prehistoric times, brachiopods such as
atrypas lived together on the ocean
floor with mussels and snails.
Protected by the shell was a soft
body with fine tentacles that filtered
food out of the seawater. Atrypas
were attached to the ocean floor by a
fleshy stalk, keeping them in place.
Your specimen is a type of atrypa
that first appeared 485 million years
ago. Most of the brachiopods lived
well through the Jurassic period, but
only comparatively few species of
brachiopods are still live today.