30 real fossils, lesson plans and more included
To celebrate Ancient Eggsplorers at Bristol Aquarium this spring, we are giving away 5 educational Fossil Boxes to visiting schools!
Created by The Fossil Box Project, a part of the Earth Heritage Trust, the Fossil Box is a fascinating educational resource that brings real fossils into the classroom for hands on learning. Since 2022 The Fossil Box Project has provided 177 boxes to schools across the UK.
To enter the competition: simply make a confirmed school tour booking between now and the 4th May using the online booking form on any of our Schools pages. The date of your booking may be for any date during the 2025/26 term, from now until the 22nd July.
Type the word FOSSIL in the Additional Notes box.
The winners will be chosen at random – 1 box per winning school.
Please note, this competition is only open to schools with confirmed bookings for tours at Bristol Aquarium.
The school will receive their prize on the day of their tour. If you are a chosen winner and your visit date is between the 2nd March and 4th May the box will be sent out to you after your visit.
Entries must be submitted by an authorised representative of the school (e.g. teacher or administrator) aged 18 or over.
Further Terms & Conditions below.*
What’s in the box?
Each box has 30 real fossils for your class.
These include…
- 12 different types of common UK fossils, with 2 examples of each fossil in the box so the students can compare between them.
- 2 modern equivalent shells (bivalve and gastropod) which allows students to compare and contrast between fossilised and modern specimens.
- Coprolite (fossilised poo!).
- Pictures of each fossil and a text description, including its type and geological age.
- Guidance sheets for teacher use, tying into the National Curriculum.
Further educational resources in the box include…
- Teacher ice-breaker questions and tasks
- Year 3 and Year 6 Primary School lesson plan suggestions
- Information about fossils and how they are made
- Where to find fossils, what to look for, and health & safety when collecting
- A geological map of the UK, showing age of rocks and typical fossils found at each epoch
- An introduction to evolution
- Britain’s journey as a landmass from the south pole
- A careers page, featuring four bios of people working in Earth Sciences
- How Ammonite fossils are made, looking at the chemical process involved courtesy of the Salter’s Institute
Specialised boxes for SEN students and braille boxes for visually impaired students are available. The winning schools will be able to choose these if preferred.
Each of the fossil descriptions are also available as audio files for partially sighted students.
Good luck!
*Further Terms and Conditions
We reserve the right to verify eligibility and may require proof of school status and employment.
The competition opens on 2nd March and closes on the 4th May (“Competition Period”). Entries received outside the Competition Period will not be included in the draw.
The prize is non-transferable, non-exchangeable, and no cash alternative will be offered unless circumstances beyond our control occur, in which case we will offer a prize of equal or greater value.
The winner will be notified via email. If the winner cannot be contacted within 15 days, we reserve the right to select an alternative winner.
Contact details will be used solely for administering the competition and related tour communications, unless consent for further marketing has been given.
We reserve the right to cancel, suspend, or amend the competition where necessary due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control.
