Ocean Fossils

[Abby Brown] This awesome land, right here in Iowa, used to be covered by seawater a long, long, long time ago. So imagine that, and imagine all of the little creatures that were swimming around in that water.  Let's go see if we can find some evidence to support that those creatures actually did live here.

[Abby] This is Fossil and Prairie Park Preserve. It's in northeastern Iowa. In more modern times like the last few hundred years, this place was a prairie. Then it was a working farm; and after that, it was a mining site. The shale in the ground was dug up and used to make brick and tile. 

(Standing atop a large hill made of gravel, there are more hills of gravel on both sides. Further ahead is a valley of flat slate and gravel and beyond that is a crescent moon shaped body of water.)

(Closeup of sea fossils found at the preserve.)

That mining or digging revealed evidence of ancient sea life. It's literally everywhere you look.

(Abby and three children walk up to an informational sign.)

Okay guys, this is going to tell us exactly what we're looking for. So I know you know some of these, but let's just review them, okay?

[Dexter] Okay.

(Abby points to each sea fossil listed on the sign as she goes over the types of fossils found in the preserve with the kids.)

[Abby] Everybody say brachiopods.

[Kids] Brachiopods.

[Abby] Say crinoids.

[Kids] Crinoids.

[Abby] Say bryozoans.

[Kids] Bryozoans.

[Abby] You know this one.

[Kids] Corals.

[Abby] Good. This is Ada's favorite. Say cephalopod.

[Kids] Cephalopod.

[Abby] Really good. Okay. Gastropod.

[Kids] Gastropod.

[Abby] And pelecypods.

[Kids] Pelecypods.

[Abby] Good.

(Abby and the children investigate the ground around them, picking up and looking at different rocks.)

[Dexter] Is it?

[Logan] Yay, look.

[Dexter] Woah.

[Ada] Got it. Logan, look at this.

[Logan] That's a big gastropod. I mean brachiopod.

[Abby] So guys, we're finding some cephalopods. Some palestipods and brachiopods, and all of these little creatures were alive at one time, right?

[Dexter] Yep.

[Abby] So what happened? How did they get here so many years later?

[Ada] I think, that when the water got dry. They were still real things; but now that it's been so long, their realness went away, and now they just left fossils and stuff.

[Abby] Look at all of these fossils we found. Logan, what'd you get?

(Abby holds up a board with fossils on it.)

[Logan] Gastropod.

(Logan holds out a Gastropod to the camera. It is a rock in the shape snail shell.)

[Abby] And Ada?

[Ada] Crinoids.

(Ada holds out crinoids to the camera. They look like small discs in her hand.)

[Abby] And Dex?

[Dexter] Brachiopod.

(Dexter holds out a brachiopod to the camera. It looks like a leaf that is rolled up with the flat side toward the camera.)

[Abby] And there are thousands and thousands more here. Evidence that Iowa was once covered by sea. Alright, let's go.

(Abby and the kids leave the preserve.)

[Announcer] Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.