An incomplete skeleton can support several reconstructions

Supply only part of an invented animal's outline and ask for alternatives. The missing evidence becomes visible when children mark which details their drawings share and which details they had to imagine.

Missing tail clues leave several plausible drawn tail lengths.

Label the unsupported parts

Mark unsupported details on the reconstruction explicitly. Comparing alternatives shows why partial evidence need not determine one complete appearance.

Identify known features. Suggest two reconstructions. Mark uncertainty.

A plausible drawing is not proof. Which details lack evidence?

Provide alternative outline cards.

Resources

• Fossil Clue Partner Game — Use the paper clues as a classroom evidence model.

Further reading

• Smithsonian — palaeontology teaching resources

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