Xenosmilus Worksheet

Name _______________________________________________

Date ________________

Period ______________


First morning. Type of animal suspected:


Second morning. Type of animal suspected:


Third morning. Type of animal suspected:


Fourth day (collaboration with peers). Type of animal suspected:


After the Skeletal Resource Manuals. Type of animal suspected:



  1. Did you make any assumptions in the beginning that made it difficult for you to construct the “right” skeleton?

  2. Did any members of the group resist changing their ideas in light of new information?

  3. Did information from another group influence your decisions?

  4. Did the Skeletal Resource Manual confirm your ideas or cause you to rework your arrangement of the fossil parts?

  5. From looking at the Skeletal Resource Manual, what could you say about how and where this animal lived?

  6. How is it possible for scientists to do studies about things that happened millions of years ago?

  7. Below, or on the back of this sheet, list what you see as three things a person can learn from this experience.