Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

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.
  1. Why are fossils usually found in sedimentary rock, not igneous rock? (Igneous rock is too young / Igneous rock forms from molten rock that would destroy remains / Sedimentary rock is magnetic / Animals never lived near volcanoes) → Igneous rock forms from molten rock that would destroy remainsPrompt: Think about the temperature of magma.
  2. Fossils: which statement is NOT true? (Fossils form in a few years. / Fossils in deeper rock layers are usually older. / Fossils show that many species have become extinct. / Most living things that ever lived did not become fossils.) → Fossils form in a few years.Prompt: Did people ever meet a living T. rex?
  3. Fossils of tropical ferns have been found in Antarctica. What is the best explanation? (Ferns grow in ice today / Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it south / The fossils were carried there by penguins / Antarctica has always been tropical) → Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it southPrompt: Continents move slowly over millions of years.

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.
  1. Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, B, A, E, C. Which layer is the oldest? (D / E / A / C) → DPrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.
  2. 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? (a dyke / a fossil / a fault / an unconformity) → an unconformityPrompt: It marks missing time.

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.
  1. Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, C, A, E, B. Which layer is the oldest? (D / B / A / E) → DPrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.
  2. Rock layers are found tilted and folded. What does this tell you? (They are igneous rock / They formed on the Moon / They were laid down tilted / Forces moved the rock after the layers formed) → Forces moved the rock after the layers formedPrompt: Sediment settles in flat, horizontal layers.

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

eurekami

Use rock layers to put events in order

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    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?

    • A. a fault
    • B. an unconformity
    • C. a dyke
    • D. a fossil

  2. Question 2

    Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, A, E, C, B. Which layer is the oldest?

    • A. D
    • B. B
    • C. A
    • D. E

  3. Question 3

    Rock layers are found tilted and folded. What does this tell you?

    • A. They are igneous rock
    • B. They formed on the Moon
    • C. Forces moved the rock after the layers formed
    • D. They were laid down tilted

  4. Question 4

    Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: B, A, E, D, C. Which layer is the youngest?

    • A. D
    • B. C
    • C. B
    • D. E

  5. Question 5

    The same unusual fossil is found in a layer in Spain and a layer in Morocco. What does this suggest?

    • A. The two layers formed at about the same time
    • B. The layers are on the same continent
    • C. The fossil travelled by boat
    • D. The layers are different ages

  6. Question 6

    Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: E, C, A. Which layer is the youngest?

    • A. C
    • B. E
    • C. A

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Use rock layers to put events in order

  1. 1. B. an unconformity

  2. 2. A. D

  3. 3. C. Forces moved the rock after the layers formed

  4. 4. B. C

  5. 5. A. The two layers formed at about the same time

  6. 6. C. A