Traveling Back in Time to Meet Trilobites

SciShow Kids

Join Anthony and his robot mouse friend Squeaks on an imaginative journey back in time to explore the prehistoric world. Using a pretend cardboard time machine and real fossil evidence, they investigate trilobites—ancient sea creatures that lived millions of years before dinosaurs. The video combines imaginative play with scientific inquiry to explain how we know about life that no longer exists. The video covers key themes in paleontology and biology, including extinction, the concept of deep time, and how Earth's geography has changed over millions of years. It introduces the classification of animals, specifically connecting ancient trilobites to modern-day arthropods like insects, spiders, and crustaceans through shared physical characteristics like segmented bodies and hard shells. This resource is excellent for early elementary science classrooms introducing fossils or animal classification. It models scientific observation by asking students to look for patterns and similarities between fossils and living creatures. The blend of narrative storytelling, clear animations, and real-world specimens makes complex concepts like geological time and evolutionary relationships accessible and engaging for young learners.