Science lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 30 minutes
Use rock layers to put events in order
Earth and rocks
CCSS NGSS.MS-ESS1-4CCSS NGSS.SEP 6England: KS3 Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Use rock layers to put events in order.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: How fossils form and what they reveal
Leads to: Earth's 4.6-billion-year history on a timeline
Materials: Rock samples, Hand lenses, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 4 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (How fossils form and what they reveal). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Fossils of tropical ferns have been found in Antarctica. What is the best explanation? (Ferns grow in ice today / Antarctica has always been tropical / The fossils were carried there by penguins / Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it south) → Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it southPrompt: Continents move slowly over millions of years.
- Fossils: which statement is NOT true? (Fossils in deeper rock layers are usually older. / Most living things that ever lived did not become fossils. / Insects can be preserved in amber (fossilised tree resin). / Fossils form in a few years.) → Fossils form in a few years.Prompt: Did people ever meet a living T. rex?
- Footprints and burrows preserved in rock are called… (crystals / trace fossils / body fossils / minerals) → trace fossilsPrompt: They show the traces of activity, not the body itself.
Hook · 3 min
- Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
- Share the objective: Use rock layers to put events in order. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 7 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, C, E. Which layer is the youngest?
- Step 1: In undisturbed layers, the lowest is oldest and the highest is youngest.
- Step 2: So the answer is: E
- Answer: E
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 6 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, E, C. Which layer is the youngest? (D / E / C) → CPrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.
- A crack filled with igneous rock (a dyke) cuts through layers A, B and C. What can you say about its age? (Its age cannot be compared / It is the same age as layer B / It is younger than all three layers / It is older than all three layers) → It is younger than all three layersPrompt: A layer must exist before something can cut through it.
You do: independent practice · 7 min
- 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.
Exit ticket · 3 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- There is a gap in the rock record where some layers have been worn away before new layers formed on top. What is this called? (an unconformity / a fossil / a fault / a dyke) → an unconformityPrompt: It marks missing time.
- Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: C, A, B. Which layer is the youngest? (C / A / B) → BPrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.
Watch out for
- Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
- Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: How fossils form and what they reveal.
- Use concrete materials: rock samples.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Earth's 4.6-billion-year history on a timeline.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-6.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder