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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes

Rock layers: reading time from the bottom up

Earth and rocks

CCSS NGSS.4-ESS1-1England: KS2 Y3 RocksEngland: KS3 Chemistry: Earth and atmosphere (rock cycle)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Rock layers: reading time from the bottom up.

  • 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

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Rock samples, Hand lenses, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 5 min

  • 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 sea shell becomes a fossil, what happens straight after "layers of sediment cover it"? (a sea creature dies / the sediment slowly turns into rock / its shell sinks to the sea floor / the fossil is found in the rock millions of years later) → the sediment slowly turns into rockPrompt: Fossils form very slowly, buried in rock.
  2. In which type of rock are fossils usually found? (sedimentary / igneous / lava / metamorphic only) → sedimentaryPrompt: This rock forms from layers of mud and sand.
  3. In how a sea shell becomes a fossil, what happens straight after "a sea creature dies"? (the fossil is found in the rock millions of years later / its shell sinks to the sea floor / layers of sediment cover it / the sediment slowly turns into rock) → its shell sinks to the sea floorPrompt: Fossils form very slowly, buried in rock.

Hook · 5 min

  • Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
  • Share the objective: Rock layers: reading time from the bottom up. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 2 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 22 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?
  • Step 1: 22 ÷ 2 = 11
  • Step 2: 11 × 100 = 1100
  • Step 3: So the answer is: 1100
  • Answer: 1100
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 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. At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 5 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 30 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form? → 600Prompt: How many groups of 5 cm are in 30 cm?
  2. A rock layer contains rounded pebbles and fossil river snails. What was the environment when it formed? (a glacier / a desert with no water / a river / the deep ocean floor) → a riverPrompt: What rounds pebbles, and where do these snails live?

You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 2 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 16 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form? → 800Prompt: How many groups of 2 cm are in 16 cm?
  2. A rock layer contains rounded pebbles and fossil river snails. What was the environment when it formed? (a glacier / a river / a desert with no water / the deep ocean floor) → a riverPrompt: What rounds pebbles, and where do these snails live?

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.
  • 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

  • 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-4.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Rock layers: reading time from the bottom up

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    A fossil is found in a layer deep below another layer. Which fossil is older?

    • A. the one in the deeper layer
    • B. you can never tell
    • C. they are the same age
    • D. the one in the higher layer

  2. Question 2

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 1 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 5 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

  3. Question 3

    Why might an old layer be found ABOVE a younger one?

    • A. Someone carried it there.
    • B. Old layers float.
    • C. Earth movements folded or flipped the layers.
    • D. The bottom layer is always youngest.

  4. Question 4

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 5 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 55 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

  5. Question 5

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 5 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 20 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

  6. Question 6

    A rock layer contains rounded pebbles and fossil river snails. What was the environment when it formed?

    • A. a glacier
    • B. a river
    • C. the deep ocean floor
    • D. a desert with no water

  7. Question 7

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 1 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 8 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

  8. Question 8

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 2 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 12 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

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Answer key: Rock layers: reading time from the bottom up

  1. 1. A. the one in the deeper layer

  2. 2. 500

  3. 3. C. Earth movements folded or flipped the layers.

  4. 4. 1100

  5. 5. 400

  6. 6. B. a river

  7. 7. 800

  8. 8. 600