- Grade Focus
- Grade 5
- Age Level
- 10
- Subject
- Science
- Technology Integration Activity
- Discovering the Internet, Imaging, PowerPoint Presentations
- Estimated Time of Completion
- 3 days
There's a Fossil in My Kitchen
Downloads for this lesson plan
Introduction
Students learn how rocks provide clues to Earth’s history, structure, and geological activity. Students investigate how fossils can provide support to the theories of continental drift and plate tectonics. As a result, students learn to think of the Earth as a geological mosaic, littered with fossils, constantly being refitted. This assignment will take approximately 3 days to complete.Prerequisite Experience
Students will have demonstrated competence with basic computer operation skills, knowledge of web browsing, word processing skills, and presentation building, using One Note and Power point.Teacher Prep Time
Approximately 2 hours of preparation time for this lesson.Project
Students will be researching information from websites provided, collaborating through One Note, and creating a variety of group projects. Each group must turn in a document and a multimedia presentation to explain the 4 topics researched. The multimedia presentations that are acceptable are a PowerPoint presentation, Photo Story, or Animoto.Time Management Tips
Set up the One Note shared folders for each group.Organize the topics in tabs for the students.
Have the links ready in One Note for students to access.
Lesson Plan Details
Engage
Students will view a video from National Geographic about a whale fossil found in a kitchen counter top.
Students will then be asked to take on the role of paleontologists and geologists and research how the fossils were preserved in the kitchen counter top.
Ask them to research what are some clues fossils can give us about organisms that lived long ago?
What are some things about Earth’s history that the fossil record shows us?
Explore
Write down the following 4 points and then explore the links below to research information about each topic. Students will use One Note to document information they’ve found about the topics. Then write an expository text on Word Doc. summarizing their findings.
• Explore the three main types of rocks, and describe how they form.
• Understand the rock cycle and explain why fossils are found in sedimentary rocks.
• Compare types of fossils and which part of the organism’s body became a fossil, what type of fossil it is, and what clues the fossil gives about the organism.
• Understand what fossils show about Earth’s history.
Science Background
Rocks are made up of minerals. Rocks are divided into three classes, according to how they form. Igneous rocks form when molten rock cools and hardens. Sedimentary rocks form through the consolidation of sediment (small pieces of minerals and rocks). Metamorphic rocks form from existing rocks that have been exposed to extreme heat and pressure. Most fossils—ancient preserved remains of living things—are found in sedimentary rock. Rocks thus contain clues to the history of life as well as the history of Earth. Fossils provide evidence about organisms that lived long ago and the nature of the environment at that time. For example, evidence from the fossil record links dinosaurs with modern birds and indicates that Earth’s continents were once joined together as one massive supercontinent. The fossil record is all the fossils on Earth. It shows that most kinds of organisms that lived in the past are extinct, ways extinct and living organisms are alike and different, conditions surrounding organisms in the past, and how Earth’s land has changed over time. Using the links provided, students should be able to gain information about their topics.
Explain
The class will be broken down into small groups. Each student will be expected to participate in a group. Each group project will be graded using a rubric created by the teacher. Each student will research the project. In order to obtain a grade of A, all students will be expected to make significant contributions to the end product. Each member of the group will be responsible for sharing information found from the websites about the 4 topics. Each group will deliver their multimedia presentations; Powerpoint, Animoto, or Photo Story; to explain their findings.
Elaborate
* Students research presence of fossils of organisms in sedimentary rocks of Virginia found in the Appalachian Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain/Tidewater.
* Write paragraphs to compare and contrast fossils found and what evidence they provide about Virginia’s geological features.
Evaluate
Evaluation for this lesson will be out of a 4 point scale rubric for each component below:
* Communication and Collaboration
* Group project and Presentation
* One Note Shared Document/Word Document
Extend
* Students can research other news articles about fossils found particularly in different regions of the United States. Students can blog about articles they’re read using our kid blog site.
* Identify rock samples using a rock classification key (granite, gneiss, slate, limestone, shale, sandstone, and coal).