CTS Guide: Earth’s Natural Resources- Section IV Research Summaries

Fossil Fuels

•  Misconceptions about fossil fuels may arise for a variety of reasons. Students sometimes misinterpret the word fossil to mean dinosaur, and sometimes animals like dinosaurs are used in cartoons that depict the formation of fossil fuels (also note the logo used on Sinclair gas stations). Some students think fossil fuel comes from whale blubber because they know that, historically, whale oil was used to heat and light homes before petroleum oil was discovered in the ground (Rule 2005).