Science
SCI.V.1.4
Grade: 4
Strand:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Earth Science
- Geosphere
Standard:
time.
All students will describe and explain how the earth’s features change over
Benchmark:
Explain how rocks and fossils are used to understand the history of the Earth.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1 - Generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation.
SCI.I.1.2 - Develop solutions to problems through reasoning, observation, and investigation.
SCI.I.1.6 - Construct charts and graphs and prepare summaries of observations.
SCI.II.1.1 - In the scientific world, decisions must be based on factual evidence that can be replicated.
Vocabulary
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fossils
extinct plants and animals
ages of fossils
rock layers
Context
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fossils found in gravel, mines, and quarries
beaches (Petoskey stones)
museum displays
Michigan examples of layered rocks
specific examples of extinct plants and
animals such as dinosaurs
Knowledge and Skills
The history of the earth can be explained by
examining rocks and fossils.
Students will explain how fossils are a record of
the existence of plants and animals.
Resources
Coloma Resources:
BCISD Layering Activity – See Instructional
Section on next page.
Fossil tradebooks from library
Students will interpret how the layers of rocks
explain the age of the earth (i.e.), the bottom layer
is usually the oldest.
Other Activities:
Paleontology – The Big Dig – Interactive site for
students – The American Museum of Natural
History – VERY COOL!
http://www.ology.amnh.org/paleontology/imgs/lin
k_stuff_on.gif
Fossil Info – Interactive learning site from the
Royal Ontario Museum – NICE http://romlx6.rom.on.ca/quiz/fossil/
Michigan Teacher Network Resources
http://mtn.merit.edu/mcf/SCI.V.1.E.4.html
BCISD – Earth Science Resources – NICE http://www.remc11.k12.mi.us/bcisd/classres/esci
ence.htm
Fossils, Rocks, and Time– how fossils are used
in establishing time sequence
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/fossils/
Instruction
Benchmark Question: Explain how rocks and
fossils are used to understand the history of the
earth.
Focus Question: How do different layers of the
earth represent the history of the earth?
Layering Activity:
The teacher will pose the focus question to the
class to introduce lesson.
Students will work by themselves or in pairs on a
web-based module from University of California,
Berkeley and the National Science Foundation –
Stories from the Fossil Record – Geologic Time
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/exploratio
ns/tours/stories/index.html
There is a teacher guide available on the site for
background information and additional material.
Assessment
Coloma Assessment:
Discover the Wonder (Scott Foresman) –
Grade 4
Chapter 3 – Test A
Optional Assessment:
Online module is self-assessing. Students get
a score which reflects how they first answered,
but cannot complete the survey until they have
mastered each question.
Teacher Notes:
Describe and explain how the earth's features change over time.
As students gain understanding, they start to explore the dynamics of the geosphere. They come to realize
that the earth's features are constantly changing, some of these changes are immediate and some take eons.
Wind and water erode away mountains and hills. Ice and heat break apart rocks. Rivers cut new valleys and
dams form new lakes. Volcanoes and earthquakes form new mountains and hills. Wind and water combine to
build sand dunes and then turn around and erode them away. The forces that work to change the surface of
the earth in this continuing dynamic are tremendous and sometime even catastrophic. A volcano can
explosively form a mountain or island in a matter of hours, while rivers can take decades to carve out valleys.
The evidence for these changes is abundant. By studying rock layers, and fossils, (i.e., mineralized
replacements or casts of ancient life forms), students learn the history of the geosphere. They discover that
these fossils are found in many places, and that rock layers can become inverted. Marine plants and animals
are found on mountaintops and in limestone deposits in the Great Lakes area. Creatures from rain forests
have left fossilized remains in current deserts, and plains animals are found in frozen in artic ice. From road
cuts they will see how the earth is folded to a point where layers of rock are reversed. In the Great Lakes
Basin they observe a history that goes from salt-water seas, to inland swamps, to high plateaus, to the largest
collection of fresh water on the planet.
Students will continue to gain understanding of the geosphere as they discover that similar processes form
rocks and minerals. They will learn of the tremendous amount of heat and pressure involved in their formation.
They will also observe how changes in temperature from melting to freezing and vise versa changes big
features into little ones. Rocks are fractured through this process. Water in small cracks and crevices of rocks
can freeze, expanding as it freezes and breaking the rock into small pieces. Students will notice how
microorganisms help turn rocks into soil, and how they turn organic materials back into minerals, thus
returning needed materials to the earth.
With the help of media presentations about volcanoes and earthquakes, students will observe the movement
of the Earth's crust. This will lead to an understanding of the dynamics of the earth's interior- its core, a
dynamic that can build mountains. From this knowledge of the fluidity, tremendous heat and pressure that are
involved in the dynamics of the earth's core, comes an understanding of what leads scientists to theorize the
movement of plates in the earth, the study of plate tectonics.