CTS Guide: Diversity of Species and Evidence of Common Ancestry, pp 130-131- Section IV Research Summaries

Fossils and Fossil Evidence

• A misconception about evolution noted by the University of California, Berkeley is that gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution. (UC Museum of Paleontology Understanding Evolution 2024).

• Researchers have recognized that children have a keen interest in fossils and that they can be used to engage students in learning about evolutionary change (Hunter et al. 2018).

• Borgerding and Raven (2018) found that young children commonly understood that inferences about body shape and size can be made from fossils, and that where fossils are found can provide clues about the environment of the fossilized organism. They also found some children do not think that plants can become fossils and that softer parts of organisms (i.e. parts other than bones, shells, teeth) can become fossilized under the right conditions.

• It has been observed that fossils provide an engaging phenomenon for students learning how to think scientifically such as the importance of collecting evidence, making observations, and making inferences and explanations from evidence  (Balmer, 2015).

• Research has suggested that children, ages 10-11, find it difficult to conceptualize the absolute ages of fossils and the species they relate to (Trend 1998).