How a fossil is formed cut and paste activity dinosaur and ammonite KS2 science

Introduce or review the stages of how fossils form with these folding cut-and-paste activities, featuring an ammonite and a Triceratops. These foldout sequencing activities will help KS2 pupils recall 6 stages of fossilisation in a fun and engaging way, that’s more hands-on than a standard fossils worksheet.

The templates - Triceratops

There are 4 similar templates to choose from to allow for differentiation:

• Template 1: Colour the images, match the labels to the pictures, glue, cut, and fold. There are 2 label options to choose from.
• Template 2: Colour the images, arrange the stages of fossilisation in order on the template, glue, cut, and fold.
• Template 3: Colour the images, write a short description of each stage, glue, cut, and fold. This one could be used as a review if you’ve already covered the fossilisation process.
• Template 4: Colour the images, match the pictures to the words, arrange them in order on the template, glue, cut, and fold.

The templates - ammonite

• Template 1: Colour the images, cut out and fold.
• Template 2 : Colour the images, cut out the words and sequence them, glue the words in place, cut and fold.
• Template 3: Colour the images, cut out the words with the pictures and sequence them, glue the words in place, cut and fold.
• Template 4: Larger version of template 3 (over 2 pages).

Activity benefits

• Hands-on and low-prep
• Use as an introduction or a review
• Opportunity to practice following directions
• A fun alternative to a science worksheet
• Differentiated options
• Suitable for interactive notebooks

Also included:

• Directions for pupils (including a picture showing how to fold)
• Questions for a whole class discussion. Some suggested answers are provided for this.
• Palaeontologist’s diary writing page for students to imagine and describe the experience of finding a triceratops fossil.
• US and UK versions of the PDF are included.

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