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How to fossilize...yourself - Phoebe A. Cohen

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You can aspire to great things in life, but how about in death? Could you be one of the world’s greatest fossils many years from now? To ensure being found by a future paleontologist, you'll need to die in a highly specific way (think within tree sap or on the bottom of the ocean floor), and nature takes care of the rest. Phoebe A. Cohen details the steps your body must take to find future fame as a fossil.

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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Phoebe A. Cohen
  • Animator Anton Bogaty
  • Narrator Joshua Holden
Additional Resources for you to Explore
To learn more about hominid fossils and those who study them, check out this page from UC Berkeley.For some good classroom activities on fossilization check out these activities hosted by UC Berkeley’s Museum of Paleontology. PaleoPortal is a great website to learn more about the fossils and geology of North America. You can find out about fossils in your state, and learn about how fossil groups have changed through time. Brian Switek’s blog Laelaps has great information on new paleontology research, especially dinosaurs and other larger vertebrates.For a more in-depth view of the fossil record, check out the Paleobiology Database, a public database of published fossil data from around the world.
TED-Ed
Lesson Creator
New York, NY
Fossils are our best window into the history of life and provide key evidence for evolution over long time scales.
01/06/2014 • 
 49 Responses
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About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Phoebe A. Cohen
  • Animator Anton Bogaty
  • Narrator Joshua Holden

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