Who are the prehistoric creatures in your neighborhood? Create an artistic answer to that question, and you could win the National Fossil Day Art and Photo Contest.
How can you depict something from so long ago? Imagine you could travel back in time with any fossil, and have it show you around its neighborhood. What might that have looked like? What other ancient organisms did it live with? Use your knowledge of the fossil you choose to reconstruct the ancient ecosystem—its home—in which it thrived. Then submit your artistic or photographic depiction of what you learned.
Download the Natonal Fossil Day art contest entry form to submit a sketch, painting, watercolor, photograph (black/white or color), or computer-generated image. You can work on your entry before school ends or over the summer. All submissions must be postmarked by 5 p.m. EST, Wednesday, October 8th, 2014 (one week before National Fossil Day).
Need some fossil inspiration? Discover what fossils can tell us in the How We Know What the Dinosaurs Looked Like: How Fossils Were Formed activity. Want to depict a habitat filled with prehistoric plants? Track plant fossils by "digging" for ancient pollen in the Pollen Tracks activity. How about connecting fossils with climate change? Try the online Prehistoric Climate Change activity to put fossils in context. You'll find lots of fossil-themed STEM activities at Howtosmile.org.
(UC Museum of Paleontology photo)