Time Detectives at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

Cultural and Community Services

Time Detectives, are you ready for your mission?

To find out about the objects in Buxton Museum

Museums help us find out about the past

What will we see and touch?

How can we find out about the objects in the Museum?

Think of a question about this object?

Questions to ask…

What is it made of?What else does it look like?

What might it have been used for?

Get ready, Time Detectives, now it’s your turn!!

What is a fossil?

A fossil is the remains of an animal or plant

which lived in the past and is now

found preserved in rocks.

How are fossils formed?

• A fish dies and sinks to the muddy seafloor.

• Hard bones are left as

the soft parts of the fish rot away.

Time passes…

• Minerals seep into the

skeleton of the fish

• The minerals harden

into rock around the

bones.

Even more time passes…

• Layers of sand and mud pile on top of the fish.

• The weight of these press down on the fish bones and they harden and stick together to form rock.

That’s how a fossil is formed!

Plant fossil –

seed fern

leaves

Animal fossil –

gastropod