Decision 1:
Content Map of Unit
Topic: Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils
Key Learning(s):
Unit Essential Question(s):
Students will investigate the physical attributes of
rocks and soil. Students will investigate fossils as
evidence of organisms that lived long ago.
S3E1 Physical attributes of rocks and soils
Concept:
rocks and minerals
Lesson Essential Questions:
How does the formation of rocks and
minerals differ?
How do you identify rocks and
minerals using their properties?
How do we use rocks and minerals in
our daily lives?
*How do you classify rocks and
minerals by their attributes?
Vocabulary:
talc, quartz, diamond, gold,
silver, mica, chemicals, luster,
texture, property
Grade: 3rd
Concept
soil
Lesson Essential Questions:
How are soils formed?
How does our earth change over time?
Concept:
fossils
S3E2 Students will
investigate fossils
Lesson Essential Questions:
How are fossils formed?
*How are fossils categorized?
How are soils used?
Vocabulary:
humus, loam, topsoil, bedrock,
clay, sand, porous, absorbent,
organic matter, fertilizer
Vocabulary:
fossil, cast, layer, imprint,
extinct, prehistoric, mold,
archeologist, ancient
Concept:
weathering
Lesson Essential Questions:
How do water and wind
change rocks and soil over
time?
Vocabulary:
weathering
Assessment:
Make a rocks, minerals, and fossils pamphlet or slide show
*Thinking Skill EQ
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Ideas for Performance-Based Activities
Pet Rock
Hardness/streak tests of minerals
Fossil imprinting/making fossils
Cookie excavation
Soil tests
Rock-On unit on PICASSO
Ideas for Technology-Integrated Activities
 PICASSO fossil lesson (technology integration link)
*Thinking Skill EQ