How can you tell they’ve got it: Types of Fossils?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Sort examples into body fossils (bones, teeth, shells) and trace fossils (footprints, eggs, dung); Explain that body fossils show what an animal looked like physically; Explain that trace fossils show how an animal behaved — how it moved, what it ate, where it nested. Or just try it together: If your child saw a dinosaur footprint in rock at a museum, could they explain how it's different from a fossil bone and what scientists can learn from it?

Science Dinosaurs & Paleontology Ages 7–9

Types of Fossils

Your child can tell two kinds of fossil apart. Body fossils are bones or teeth. Trace fossils, like footprints or eggs, show how an animal behaved.

In curriculum terms

Distinguish body fossils (preserved bones, teeth, shells) from trace fossils (footprints, trackways, eggs, burrows, coprolites) and explain what each type can tell scientists

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Sort examples into body fossils (bones, teeth, shells) and trace fossils (footprints, eggs, dung)
Explain that body fossils show what an animal looked like physically
Explain that trace fossils show how an animal behaved — how it moved, what it ate, where it nested

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Try this together

If your child saw a dinosaur footprint in rock at a museum, could they explain how it's different from a fossil bone and what scientists can learn from it?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Fossils & Palaeontologistsages 5–7Must understand what fossils are before distinguishing body vs trace fossils

How Fossils Formages 7–9Understanding formation helps contextualise different fossil types

Types of Fossilsthis skill · ages 7–9

Unlocks

Fossilised Dinosaur Dungages 7–9Coprolites are a type of trace fossil — must understand the category first

Reading Dinosaur Trackwaysages 7–9Must understand trace fossils before analysing trackways

How Palaeontologists Workages 9–11Understanding different fossil types helps contextualise what palaeontologists look for

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 1 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S4U01medium confidenceScience · Levels 3 and 4 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Dinosaurs Around the Worldages 7–9 Fossilised Dinosaur Dungages 7–9 Fossils Reveal Ancient Environmentsages 7–9 How Fossils Formages 7–9

All Dinosaurs & Paleontology skills →