HS-LS4-1
Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.
- Animals
Dinosaurs are still alive. Today, we call them birds
Birds don’t look like the scaly giants of Jurassic World. But fossils are revealing how these modern-day dinosaurs descended from ancient reptiles.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Lava bomb
An explosive volcanic eruption can shoot a blob of lava into the air. As that blob travels, it cools, creating a dangerous lava bomb.
- Archaeology
Let’s learn about radiocarbon dating
Through the power of radioactivity, carbon dating can reveal the age of many fossils and artifacts.
- Fossils
50 years on, Lucy offers lessons for achieving fossil fame
Since the discovery of Lucy's skeleton in 1974, a catchy name and ongoing scientific debates have kept this human ancestor in the spotlight.
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- Archaeology
An Egyptian mummy’s silent ‘scream’ hints at her violent death
A rare muscle stiffening known as a cadaveric spasm might explain the mummy’s open-mouthed expression.
- Archaeology
Scientists Say: Stone Age
This vast, mysterious stretch of time marks the dawn of human civilizations.
- Animals
Horned lizards and snakes tend to ambush their prey
The reptiles’ horns could help or hinder during foraging, depending on how they hunt. This might be why horns evolved in some species and not others.
- Life
Scientists Say: Ichnology
This field of science looks to understand life — past and present — by studying how organisms altered their surroundings.
- Animals
Let’s learn about why turkeys are dinosaurs
Modern birds are the only dinosaurs that survived an apocalyptic extinction event 66 million years ago.
- Humans
Scientists Say: Prehistoric
Researchers rely on prehistoric tools and other artifacts to study the vast stretches of time before recorded history.
- Math
Bees and wasps devised the same clever math trick to build nests
During nest building, these insects add five- and seven-sided cells in pairs. This helps their colony fit together hexagonal cells of different sizes.
