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

Evolution and fossil evidence

Cells, genetics and evolution

CCSS NGSS.MS-LS4-1CCSS NGSS.MS-LS4-2CCSS NGSS.3-LS4-1England: KS2 Y6 Evolution and inheritanceEngland: KS3 Biology: Genetics and evolution

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Evolution and fossil evidence.

  • 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: Inherited and environmental characteristics

Leads to: Natural selection and resistance

Materials: Microscope images or slides, Cell diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Inherited and environmental characteristics). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is this characteristic inherited or environmental: dyed hair? (inherited (from parents) / environmental (from life)) → environmental (from life)Prompt: Were you born with it, or did it happen during life?
  2. A plant grown in a dark cupboard is tall, thin and pale. Its seeds are planted in sunlight. The new plants are… (normal and green, because the pale look was caused by the environment / white, because their parent was in the dark / pale, because they inherit it / unable to grow) → normal and green, because the pale look was caused by the environmentPrompt: Is being pale passed on in the seeds?
  3. Inheritance: which statement is true? (If a parent loses a finger, its babies are born without that finger. / Characteristics are passed on in genes. / Children are always exact copies of one parent. / The language you speak is inherited.) → Characteristics are passed on in genes.Prompt: Which things can be passed on in genes?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a microscope image of cells and ask what students think they are looking at.
  • Share the objective: Evolution and fossil evidence. 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: Mary Anning was famous for…
  • Step 1: Mary Anning's fossil finds helped show that species can become extinct.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs
  • Answer: finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs
  • 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. Mary Anning was famous for… (inventing the telescope / landing on the Moon / finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs / discovering electricity) → finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaursPrompt: She searched the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast in England.
  2. Evolution: which statement is true? (Individual animals evolve during their own lifetime. / Variation between individuals is needed for natural selection. / Humans evolved from modern chimpanzees. / Dinosaurs and early humans lived at the same time.) → Variation between individuals is needed for natural selection.Prompt: Evolution is about populations over many generations.

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. Mary Anning was famous for… (discovering electricity / landing on the Moon / inventing the telescope / finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs) → finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaursPrompt: She searched the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast in England.
  2. Evolution: which statement is true? (Humans evolved from modern chimpanzees. / Individual animals evolve during their own lifetime. / Dinosaurs and early humans lived at the same time. / Fossils are evidence for evolution.) → Fossils are evidence for evolution.Prompt: Evolution is about populations over many generations.

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: Inherited and environmental characteristics.
  • Use concrete materials: microscope images or slides.
  • 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: Natural selection and resistance.
  • 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

Evolution and fossil evidence

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Evolution: which statement is true?

    • A. Individual animals evolve during their own lifetime.
    • B. Dinosaurs and early humans lived at the same time.
    • C. Humans evolved from modern chimpanzees.
    • D. Species can become extinct.

  2. Question 2

    Evolution: which statement is NOT true?

    • A. Species can become extinct.
    • B. Humans evolved from modern chimpanzees.
    • C. Birds are descended from dinosaurs.
    • D. Fossils are evidence for evolution.

  3. Question 3

    What do fossils tell us about living things?

    • A. Living things have changed over very long periods of time.
    • B. Living things have never changed.
    • C. Fossils are only made of plastic.
    • D. Dinosaurs lived at the same time as the first humans.

  4. Question 4

    Finches on different islands have different beak shapes. The best explanation is…

    • A. The birds chose their beak shape.
    • B. Beaks suited to each island's food helped birds survive and breed.
    • C. Each bird stretched its beak to reach food.
    • D. Beak shape is random and has no effect.

  5. Question 5

    Who is famous for the theory of evolution by natural selection?

    • A. Isaac Newton
    • B. Albert Einstein
    • C. Charles Darwin
    • D. Marie Curie

  6. Question 6

    Mary Anning was famous for…

    • A. discovering electricity
    • B. inventing the telescope
    • C. landing on the Moon
    • D. finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Evolution and fossil evidence

  1. 1. D. Species can become extinct.

  2. 2. B. Humans evolved from modern chimpanzees.

  3. 3. A. Living things have changed over very long periods of time.

  4. 4. B. Beaks suited to each island's food helped birds survive and breed.

  5. 5. C. Charles Darwin

  6. 6. D. finding important fossils, such as ichthyosaurs