• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (How fossils form). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. In how a fossil forms, what happens straight after "it is quickly buried by mud or sand"? (the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncovered / minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of years / the soft parts rot away / an animal dies) → the soft parts rot awayPrompt: Only the hard parts usually become fossils.
2. A fossil is found in a deep rock layer. Another is found in a layer near the top. Which is probably older? (they are the same age / it is impossible to say anything / the fossil near the top / the fossil in the deeper layer) → the fossil in the deeper layerPrompt: Layers build up one on top of another.
3. A footprint preserved in rock is called a… (skeleton / crystal / trace fossil / mineral) → trace fossilPrompt: It shows something the animal did, not its body.

• Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
• Share the objective: Compare fossils with living plants and animals. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which living thing is most similar to this fossil: woolly mammoth?
• Step 1: Both have trunks and tusks; mammoths had long hair for cold climates.
• Step 2: So the answer is: elephant
• Answer: elephant
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Which living thing is most similar to this fossil: ammonite (coiled shell)? (dragonflies today / modern birds / lions and tigers / nautilus) → nautilusPrompt: Look for a shared feature: trunk, shell, wings, teeth or leaf shape.
2. Archaeopteryx fossils show feathers AND teeth. What does this suggest? (Birds are related to reptiles such as dinosaurs. / Feathers are made of teeth. / Birds have always had teeth. / It was a kind of fish.) → Birds are related to reptiles such as dinosaurs.Prompt: Which living animals have feathers, and which have teeth like this?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. True or false? Every fossil is of an animal still alive today. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Which fossil groups are extinct, and which have living relatives?
2. Some living things, like horseshoe crabs and ginkgo trees, look almost the same as fossils millions of years old. What are they sometimes called? (minerals / dinosaurs / living fossils / extinct species) → living fossilsPrompt: They are still alive today.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.