2 Workers find a pre-historic animal tooth in Corvallis
There are workers in Corvallis. They need to move a gas pipe. They dig up the pipe. They find something unusual.
The workers find an animal tooth. However, it is very old. So they stop working.
The workers call a scientist from Oregon State University. The scientist knows the tooth. It is the tusk of a woolly mammoth.
A woolly mammoth looks like an elephant. It lived thousands of years ago. Now it is extinct. That means no woolly mammoths live today.
The workers leave the tooth in the ground. They cover it with dirt. The city and the scientists talk. They will decide later what to do.
-This story was first published in ESOL News Oregon June 22, 2021.
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Discuss
- The workers were probably very surprised. Talk about a time when you felt very surprised. What were you doing?
- The woolly mammoth is extinct. What other animals do you know that are extinct? Give some examples.
- Animals become endangered before they become extinct. This means they are in danger of becoming extinct. Do you know the names of any endangered animals? If you don’t, then do a quick search on the internet.
- The workers called a scientist. They wanted to learn what the tooth was. Then they left the tooth in the ground. Did they do the right thing? What do you think will happen next?
Write
- The workers were surprised when they found the tooth. When have you been surprised by something unusual?
- Look at a picture of a woolly mammoth. How big were they compared to humans? Can you imagine living around such huge creatures? What was it like?
- The workers found a tooth from thousands of years ago. What do you think workers will find thousands of years in the future? Why?
- What can scientists learn from old teeth and bones? Write about at least three things.
Sources
Day, J. (2021, June 18). Mammoth tusk found at Corvallis construction site. Corvallis Gazette Times. https://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/mammoth-tusk-found-at-corvallis-construction-site/article_78366f47-e12b-59f9-a12a-6928bf4b8a65.html
Image: Thomas Quine, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
