Educator Guide: Ancient Math and Ecosystem Clues

After taking a fresh look at humanity’s oldest flower art, researchers realize that math may have emerged thousands of years earlier than previous estimates. Discuss how our Stone Age ancestors depicted flowers with a regular number of petals and how this provides evidence of an understanding of math.

Students will describe what they can learn from different types of fossils, from bones to microfossils. Then they will learn about an example of fossilized vomit and answer questions about how paleontologists use fossilized “clues” to learn about ancient species’ interactions and ecosystems.