Life on Earth likely began in the ancient oceans. Millions of years ago, there were marine organisms who died and, in certain circumstances, left a record of their lives as fossils. Scientists are able to study prehistoric ocean life by finding fossils… sometimes they can even be found inland! Some of these prehistoric sea creatures went extinct when they couldn’t adapt to changes in their environment, and some were successful and have modern day relatives. Depending on the fossils, we can see evidence of the environment the animal experienced all those years ago.

In this activity, students will gather evidence to support an explanation of which past organisms have evolved into which modern day organisms by identifying anatomical similarities and differences allowing them to consider their evolutionary history and infer evolutionary relationships.