Talk to students about the ways an archeologist digs up fossils and artifacts in the field. Have students make a grid, using string, to divide the area into about 15-20 squares. Once the grid is constructed, students should label the boxes along the axes with numbers one direction and with letters the other direction. Once this has been done, the students should remove the object as place it on a table which has been divided and labeled the same way as the dig grid. Ask the students if they notice any patterns in the ways the bones are laid out.
Students can then construct a graph using the real bones.
Have students lay these bones out by type on a big sheet of paper. Students can then name each of the types of bones and label this under the column. Have students count the total number of bones in each line and label the y-axis with these numbers at the appropriate locations. Depending on the level of the students, then can first recreate the graph on the paper using drawn bones to replace the real ones. Students can then regraph the information using only numbers by counting up a number of squares on the graph paper equal to the number of bones they have.