Development Document (Instructional Materials)
Unit goals
1. Students will understand the types of fossils found in Utah through Language Arts, Science, Math,
and Writing.
2. Students will be able to identify where fossils can be found in Utah and how they can be used to
make inferences.
3. Students will be able to identify the difference between Invertebrates and Vertebrates, why
scientists study them, and where they can be found, where they may be found in Utah.
Objectives of the Instruction
1. Students will identify how the shape, size, and structure of fossils compare to other.
2. Students will define key vocabulary words.
3. Students will read questions about fossils and then complete a graphic organizer correctly.
4. Students will use information in graphic organizer to write a report about fossils.
5. Students will learn about how fossils are formed.
6. Students will examine how some organisms are preserved and report their conclusions in a
scientific format.
7. Students will combine knowledge acquired during the unit and write a narrative about and the
impact on ecosystem.
Prerequisites
In order to be successful students must be able to do all of the following:
1. Read the materials given to them and write clear statements about what they read.
2. Discuss topics in small groups and in whole class arrangements,
3. Complete a Fossil Grid.
4. Read maps and graphs to obtain key information
5. Write in they journals using scientific format.
Introductory presentation of instruction
-Students will be introduced to the Magic Bag activity
Basic plans for instructor materials
Books
Adventures in Paleontology: 36 Classroom Fossil Activities, by Thor Hansen and Irwin Slesnick; ISBN- 13: 978-0-87355-272-1
A Golden Guide from St. Martin’s Press: Fossils, by Frank H.T. Rhodes, Herbert S. Zim, and Paul R. Shaffer; ISBN 1-58238-142-9
Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!; ISBN 0-525-46978-8
Fossils Tell of Long Ago, by Aliki; ISBN-13: 1978-0-06-445093-5
Linking Science & Literacy in the K-8 Classroom, Edited by Rowena Douglas, Michael P. Klentschy, and Karen Worth, with Wendy Binder;
ISBN-13: 978-1-933531-01-4
New Dinos, by Shelley Tanaka; ISBN 0-689-85138-9 Reader’s Digest Pathfinders: Dinosaurs; ISBN 1-57584-288-2 The Complete Book of
Dinosaurs; ISBN 0-681-37578-7 Web-linked, Online: Dinosaurs; ISBN 0-7566-2228-X
Media
Reading Rainbow: Digging Up Dinosaurs; ASIN 6302033365 Eyewitness: Dinosaurs; ISBN 0-7894-0038-3
Articles
Science and Children (Nov 2006), NSTA.
Web sites
http://www.utah.com/dinosaurs/index.htm
Science Standard IV-1—Activities
Scope and Sequence
Day One
Gaining attention (20 minutes)
Welcome students to class. Today we are going to begin a new unit of study on fossils. Our first activity
is a game.
Direction: Today we will be doing an activity that will give us involved to talk about fossils. The activity
is called: The Magic Bag
Content: Put one sturdy fossil in a single large bag so the children don’t see it. Fossils that are good for
this are those that have deep ridges or clear shapes, like a brachiopod, an unpolished orthoceras or a
trilobite.
1. Pass the bag around and have the children feel the fossil through the bag.
2. As children imagine the contents, have them create questions, like a “20 Questions” game, with only
yes or no answers. You can give the answers, but don’t be too easy or general. The more your
“yes” answers are saved for really accurate details, the better questions you’ll get.
3. Examples:
•
Is this an animal?
•
Does it live in the ocean?
•
Can you see it at a zoo?
•
Can you see it in a museum?
4. After the questions are answered, the students can begin to make guesses about the contents.
Once the animal is exposed, identify it using research books (or you could reveal the name
yourself) and write its name on a card or label. Display the fossil and its name card on a shelf
along with prepared question cards to encourage research.
Application feedback—level 2 (eliciting performance) (10-15 minutes)
Do the activity in small groups and have every student take a turn or two.
Application feedback—level 3 (feedback) (7-10 minutes)
Class Discussion
Students will think of questions to ask.
Students will have the opportunity to ask at least one of the questions they came up with to the rest
of the class.
Was it difficult coming up with questions?
How many questions were you able to come up with while doing the activity?
Where the question easier to create as the activity went on?
Evaluation (assessment) (3 minutes)
Ask if students what they thought of the activity. Ask students to write an entry in their journal
from today class activity.
Closure (retention and transfer) (2-3 minutes)
Today you learned how to generate (come up with) questions while you are learning something
new.
Day Two
Gaining attention:
Welcome students to class. (1 minute)
Directions:
Students will demonstrate their knowledge of vocabulary words from this lesson.
Recall: (10 minutes)
Students will read one of the questions they came up with from yesterday’s lesson. They class will answer
questions from what they have learned.
Content: (20 minutes)
a. Fossil
b. Sediments
c. Organisms
d. Environments
e. Climate
f. Geology
g. Fossilized
h. Amber
i. Trilobite
Application Feedback Level-3
Student will use text, web, and/or dictionary to write definitions of their vocabulary words in the journal.
Evaluation: (10 minutes)
Students will share definitions with entire class.
Closure: (2-4 minutes)
Teacher will check off students’ work for credit.
DAY THREE
Gaining attention Welcome students to class and tell them they will be making some important
decisions. (20 minute)
Direction: Fossil Observations
In this activity, students will work in cooperative groups of five to six students to answer specific
questions that they either have to agree or disagree with.
Recall:
Content:
1.
Scientists learn about Earth’s history by studying fossils.
2.
Fossils are usually found in igneous rocks.
3.
Only the soft part of an organism can become a fossil.
4.
Impression fossils are also called track fossils.
5.
An organism can be preserved without changing by being frozen in ice.
6.
Amber is an insect found fossilized in rocks.
7.
Minerals that fill tiny holes in an imprint form mineral replacement fossils.
8.
Replacement fossils are all the same color.
When doing this activity it helps to use a timer; typically, about five to seven minutes allows them
enough time to observe their fossil and record the information.
1.
Students in each group should count off from one to five. Then students assemble with students
from other groups who have the same number. Each numbered group will examine a different fossil,
discussing the characteristics they observe.
2.
Students will record their fossil observations in their own science notebook, along with a detailed
drawing of the fossil. Their written observations should include such things as size, color, shape, texture,
and any defining features.
3.
Students go back to their original group to share what they have observed and learned about their
fossil. Use the Fossil Chart to organize the group’s information.
4.
Students can then use their observations to ascertain similarities and differences among the fossils.
They should use logical thought processes to show relationships and make inferences as to the fossil
organism’s original environment. It is also important that students use the identified features to compare
the fossils to living organisms that are familiar.
5.
Each group can then share with the class as a whole.
Preserved Organisms- Model of Amber
Application Feedback Level 2 (15 minutes)
Students will work in pairs and agree on an answer and share with the whole class.
Evaluation:
Begin by discussing with students what a fossil is and how scientists use fossils to help explain Earth’s
past.
Closure: (10 minutes)
Students will share with the class the information they wrote in their science journals.
Day Four
Gaining attention (1 minute)
Welcome students to class. Lets get our hands dirty!
Direction (stating objectives) (1 minute)
Using the process skill of formulating models, students will develop a physical representation of a mineral
replacement fossil:
Recall (5 minutes)
Who can tell me a fact from yesterdays lesson?
Content (presentation of new material) (15 minutes)
1.Each group will place their sponge shapes into a container holding sand, covering the sponge shapes
completely. There should be a layer of sand below and above the sponges.
2. Mix two parts salt to 5 parts water in another container. Make sure that the salt is dissolved into the
water.
3.Slowly pour the salt water on top of the sand until it completely soaks the sand.
4.Leave the container of sand in a warm, dry place until it completely dries.
5. When it is dry, excavate the sponges with a spoon. Have students use a grid to record where each
“bone” was found.
6.See how the sponges turned “bonelike.” Discuss with students how when the salt water was added to the
sand, it filled the pores in the sponge. When the water evaporated, the salt remained in those pores. This
simulates how dissolved minerals replaced the cells in bones, wood, etc. Fossils are found in sedimentary
rocks, which are formed by cementation and compression.
Application feedback-level 1
Teacher will demonstrate how to make a model.
Application feedback- level 2 (15 minutes)
Student will work with a partner and create a “fossil.”
Teacher will circulate around the room helping groups as needed.
Evaluation:
Students will hand in when they are done.
Closure (8 minutes)
Ask students, what was the most difficult part of the activity?
Have the students write the steps they took to create their own fossil in their journal.
Day Five
Gaining attention (1 minute)
Welcome class by telling them about the word sort
Direction (1 minute)
Today you will be doing a fossil sort.
Recall (5 minutes)
Ask students: What types of fossils did we make yesterday?
I have looked through your journals and have made some comments on what you wrote. Please read the
comments I have made and let’s discuss your work.
Content:
Fossil Word Sort
-impression
-track fossil
-hard parts of an organism
-preserved organism
-mineral replacement fossil
-sedimentary rocks impression
-infer
-water dissolves
-bones or shells
-fossilized resin from ancient trees and plants
-minerals harden into stone
-footprint
-amber
-trilobite
-dead plant or animal
-imprint in the mud
Application feedback—level 2(25 minutes)
Students work with a partner to complete a word sort worksheet.
Evaluation
Students will turn in their word sort works.
Closure
I will grade your worksheets and return them to you at the beginning of tomorrows class.
Day Six
Gaining attention (2mins)
Welcome class and start by asking, Who wants to be a paleontologist?
Direction
Students will act as paleontologists and attempt to figure out the environment where various fossils
would have existed.
Recall A short discussion about yesterday’s word sort worksheet were students review the
vocabulary.
Content (presentation of new material) (35 minutes)
-Students stand at the back of the room with pencil and paper.
-Place one of the fossil pictures on 25 desks.
-Tell the students there is a card on each desk with a fossil drawn on it and a number. It is face
down, and they are not to turn them over until asked to do so. When asked to go to their seats, they
are to go to their regular seat but not to touch the card in front of them.
-When they have moved to their regular seats, give them each a copy of the blank grid. Have them
fill in their name and the date.
-Explain the grid. Show figure one on an overhead.
-Ask students to turn over the card in front of them and tell them each space has a number and
each card has a number. Find the space on your grid that has the number to match the card. In that
space, draw the picture of the fossil found on the card in font of you and write the fossil name
underneath it. You will be moving from one seat to another until all the spaces on the grid are
filled.
-Outline the movement sequence on the board so every one gets to all of the cards.
-Students proceed until the grid is complete.
-Once the grid is complete the students use dots and hatch marks to separate the different types of
environments (Environment Markings). Discuss which fossils might indicate which environments.
-The normal sequence would have any fossils indicating a beach found in between those of the
ocean and the land. Students may work alone or in twos. Students color their grid as follows:
boxes with land fossils with green, beach fossils with yellow; and sea fossil with blue.
Allow students to discuss their reasons and what inferences could they make from the fossil
pictures.
Application feedback level-1 Show examples of what you want the student do with their grid.
Application feedback level-3 Students collect cards and fill in grid.
Evaluation What information did you collect in your grid?
Closure
Collect grid worksheets.