Well, it is fair to say Year 6 had an incredible day fossil hunting on Charmouth beach today!
The trip started outside Charmouth Heritage Centre where we met Ali and volunteer Penny who prepared us for our fossil hunting session. Ali explained the types of fossils we could find today and more importantly, how to stay safe on the beach.
Eager to get started, we made our way onto the beach. Ali lead us to a safe spot that was perfect for hunting fossils. The first fossil was found within about 60 seconds of arriving and it was an ammonite! The class then spent 90 minutes on the beach searching for a range of fossils, and they certainly were successful! Here’s what we found:
- belemnites
- ammonites
- fool’s gold (iron pyrite)
- crinoid
- fossilised sea urchin
- fossilised coral
- fossilised wood
- gastropod
Mrs Harris was particularly pleased with her find – the vertebrae of an ichthyosaur!
At the end of the session, Ali taught us where on the cliffs we would find different fossils. We also learnt a bit more about Mary Anning and how she discovered the first ichthyosaur skeleton on the beach between Charmouth and Lyme Regis!
I am extremely impressed with everyone’s attitude and behaviour today – they represented Southill beautifully and it was lovely to see everyone working collaboratively to help each other find fossils! Well done Year 6 – a thoroughly enjoyable day!
Thank you also to Mr Bell, Mrs Hill, Mrs Harris and Mrs Atkinson for helping on the trip.
Miss Savage
