Do the following: 1. describe the process scientists use when they study fossils. include where fossils could be found and what steps scientists take to protect fossils, once they are discovered.

2. discuss, in detail, three things that we can learn from fossils.

3. choose three types of fossils. describe their appearance and how they were formed.

Scientist usually use the process of relative dating to begin with, then chemical dating. They look at where the environment that they found the fossil to determine if it has always been that environment. ie i found fossils of marine life in a country town suggesting that the environment was previously a marine environment.
They study the rocks that we found the fossils to help determine a relative age. ie this came before that, but after them to give us an approximate age. they then study the fossil itself to classify it into groups to determine which branch of evolution it has come from. 
Fossils can be found in rocks, bedding planes,(rock layers), trees (tree ring dating). mostly there are found in rocks or weathered rocks (sands, mud).