Jurassic Attack – Dinosaur National Monument – Fossils & Earth History

Topic: Fossils and Earth History

Jurassic Attack is a story-driven online escape mission set inside Dinosaur National Monument, one of the richest fossil sites on Earth. Students investigate a dangerous disturbance where rock layers are fracturing and fossil evidence is shifting out of place.

Free classroom resources included: the interactive online adventure, printable trading cards that teach the core concepts, and printable completion certificates with a reward code area. The cards can be used as hint tools during the mission or as learning supports before and after the adventure.

Objective

Students will explain what fossils are, describe how fossilization happens, compare types of fossils, and use rock layers and fossil evidence to interpret Earth’s history over geologic time.

Time

30 to 45 minutes (plus optional excavation extension).

Materials

• Student devices (1 per student or 1 per pair)
• Printed trading cards (optional but recommended)
• Pencils for recording code letters
• Printed completion certificates (for the end)

Prep

• Open the Genially adventure and test audio, links, and the code entry slide.
• Print trading cards and certificates (optional).
• Decide: pre-cut cards or have students cut them.

Procedure

1. Engage (5 min): Ask: “What clues could tell you an animal lived here long ago?” and “Why are fossils usually found in layered rock?”
2. Explore (20 to 30 min): Students complete the online mission. They answer 9 questions and record the letters revealed after each mission zone.
3. Explain (5 min): Quick review: choose 2 questions and discuss why the correct answers fit the evidence.
4. Elaborate (optional): Do the DIY fossil dig and have students describe what “evidence” their dig reveals.
5. Evaluate (3 to 5 min): Students write a short response: one fact about fossilization, one difference between body and trace fossils, and one thing fossils can reveal about an environment.
6. Closure: Hand out the completion certificate and celebrate mission success.

Differentiation

• Pairs: one reader, one navigator, then switch roles each zone.
• Use printed cards as “field notes” for support during questions.
• Extension: students explain how fossils show change over time.

Printing: Print the materials before class. You can pre-cut the cards for speed or let students cut them as a warm up. Certificates work best when students write their name and take them home.

Devices: Ideal is one device per student or per pair. Small groups work well if students discuss and agree on answers together.

End-of-adventure moment: After students pass the final code check, give the completion certificate. This creates a clean finish, a sense of achievement, and a take-home item with the reward code area.

• Fossil: The remains or traces of plants or animals that lived long ago, usually preserved in rock.
• Fossilization: The process where living things are buried and slowly turn to stone over a long time.
• Body Fossil: Fossil made from parts of the organism, like bones, teeth, or shells.
• Trace Fossil: Fossil that shows evidence of activity, like footprints, burrows, or bite marks.
• Sedimentary Rock Layer: Rock that forms in layers over time as sediments build up and press together.
• Geologic Time: The timeline of Earth’s long history used to organize events from the past.
• Extinct: A species that no longer exists anywhere on Earth.
• Fossil Evidence: Clues fossils provide about past life and ancient environments.
• Evolution: How species change over long periods of time, sometimes creating new species.
• Mass Extinction: A time when many species die out in a relatively short period.

Answer key support: These match the 9 trading card topics for Jurassic Attack. Use as review, exit ticket prompts, or to support the online mission.

1. What is a fossil?
   Answer: Remains or traces of plants and animals that lived long ago, usually preserved in rock.
   Common incorrect: Any rock that looks old.
2. What must usually happen first for fossilization to begin?
   Answer: The organism is buried, then slowly turns to stone over a long time.
   Common incorrect: The organism is melted by lava and instantly becomes rock.
3. Which is the best example of a trace fossil?
   Answer: Footprints or bite marks that show evidence of past life activity.
   Common incorrect: A dinosaur bone.
4. Why are fossils most often found in sedimentary rock layers?
   Answer: Sedimentary rock forms in layers and can bury and preserve remains over time.
   Common incorrect: Sedimentary rock forms from melted lava that traps fossils.
5. What does geologic time help scientists do?
   Answer: Organize Earth’s history and events across very long time periods.
   Common incorrect: Predict tomorrow’s weather using old rocks.
6. What does it mean when a species is extinct?
   Answer: It no longer lives anywhere on Earth.
   Common incorrect: It moved to a different habitat and is hard to find.
7. How can fossils provide evidence about an ancient environment?
   Answer: They can show how animals moved, what they ate, and what the area was like long ago.
   Common incorrect: They can show the exact temperature on a specific day in the past.
8. Which statement best describes evolution?
   Answer: Species can change over long periods of time, and fossils show those changes.
   Common incorrect: Individual animals can change into new species overnight.
9. What is a mass extinction?
   Answer: A time when many species die out in a relatively short period of time.
   Common incorrect: A time when every species on Earth disappears at once.

• Why are fossils considered evidence and not just “old bones”?
• What can a footprint fossil tell you that a bone fossil cannot?
• How do rock layers help scientists figure out what happened first and what happened later?
• How could fossils show that an environment used to be different than it is today?
• Why might a mass extinction change what kinds of animals live afterward?

• Lights: Dim the lights and use a desk lamp as a “field spotlight” for the fossil zone.
• Sound: Play quiet canyon wind, distant rumbles, or “dig site” ambience during the mission.
• Zones: Label 3 areas of the room as restricted fossil zones and let students move after each zone.
• Props: Caution tape, clipboards, “Fossil Zone” signs, and a “Do Not Disturb Evidence” table.
• Briefing: Start with a 30 second Ari Raider briefing: “Protect the evidence. Stabilize the layers.”

Goal: Create a simple classroom fossil dig that feels like a discovery mission, even without real fossil kits.

Materials

• Plaster of Paris
• Sand (or fine dirt)
• Paper cups or silicone molds
• Tumbled stones, creek stones, gravel, or donated rocks
• Plastic spoons, craft sticks, old toothbrushes
• Optional: small plastic “dinosaur” toys for a trace clue, shells, or leaves for imprint ideas

Directions

1. Place 1 to 2 stones (or a small “clue object”) in each cup or mold.
2. Mix plaster of Paris with sand (about half and half). Add water until it pours like thick batter.
3. Pour over the objects until covered. Tap gently to reduce air pockets.
4. Let harden 30 to 60 minutes (overnight is best if you can).
5. Students excavate carefully, then brush away dust and describe what they found as “evidence.”

Tips and Tricks

• Tumbled stones look like treasure and work great as “specimens.”
• Ask families for donations: creek stones, spare landscaping gravel, or leftover tumbled stones.
• To make digs easier, add slightly more sand or use smaller molds.
• Contain mess with trays or paper plates under each dig block.

Common NGSS alignments supported by this adventure (grades 3 to 5):

• 3-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.
• 3-LS4-2: Use evidence to construct an explanation for how variations in traits can influence survival.
• 4-ESS1-1: Identify evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils to support explanations about changes in landscapes over time.

Note: Exact alignment depends on grade level and whether you include the optional extension activities.

Teacher links go here: Add your PDF links for printable trading cards and printable certificates.

• Download: Printable Trading Cards (PDF)
• Download: Completion Certificates with Reward Code (PDF)

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