Design Your Own Fossils Science Project With Us!

Looking for a way to wrap up your fossils unit with a creative, student-led activity? This fossils science project resource gives students everything they need to dive deeper into the types of fossils! With project overview pages, research templates, graphic organizers, and grading rubrics, your students will stay organized and engaged as they explore the fascinating world of ancient life.

This fossils science project is the perfect way to reinforce scientific thinking, research skills, and presentation confidence in your 3rd and 4th grade classrooms.

Complete a Fossil Poster Project, Slideshow, or Museum!

This printable fossil science project includes student-friendly directions and templates to guide research and help learners present their findings on fossil types. With this resource, students are given the choice to create a fossil poster project, a slideshow presentation, or a mini-museum model. Below are the task descriptions:

• Task 1 – Fossils Slideshow Project

Students will create a PowerPoint or Google Slides presentation to teach their classmates about what fossils are, the different types of fossils, and where they can be found. Your slideshow must include at least five slides and answer the following questions:

• Task 2 – Fossils Poster Project

Students will create a large poster to teach their classmates about the different types of fossils. Posters must include the following:

• A bold, easy-to-read title
• Labeled pictures of the different types of fossils 
• Information about what a fossil is and the types of fossils.
• Information about each fossil type that explains what it is.
• Information about each fossil type that describes how it is formed.

• Task 3 – Fossils Museum Project

Students are tasked with becoming a museum curator for this project. They must plan, create, and decorate a shoebox museum exhibit showing what they’ve learned about the different types of fossils. They will then use the mini-museum to teach the class about fossils, and let their classmates enjoy a trip to the museum. They must complete the following:

• Find a shoebox or small box of some sort to create your museum.
• Decorate the inside and outside of the box to look like a real museum! You can add a museum name, entrance sign, and display areas inside.
• Use air-dry clay to shape fossil models, such as molds, casts, or preserved remains.
• Use index cards or small sticky notes to label the fossils with the following information.
  • name of the fossil 
  • the type of fossil
  • one or two important facts about how it formed or what it tells us about the past.

We have included a project overview, planning template, and grading rubric for each of the Fossils Project tasks above.

Downloading Your Fossil Project Templates

Ready to get your fossil project underway? Your new resource is ready and waiting. Give that dropdown arrow on the Download button a click for your choice of Editable Google Slides or easy-to-print PDF. Download, Print, and Go!

Resources to Pair With Your Fossil Projects

Not quite ready to start on your fossil projects just yet? No worries! We’ve got plenty of resources to help you get your students on their way to diving into an exciting research and performance task. Make sure you pick up these resources when you’re planning and come back to the project at the end!

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