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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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 fossil forms, what happens straight after "it is quickly buried by mud or sand"? (the soft parts rot away / an animal dies / the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncovered / minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of years) → 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? (the fossil in the deeper layer / it is impossible to say anything / the fossil near the top / they are the same age) → the fossil in the deeper layerPrompt: Layers build up one on top of another.
  3. In how a fossil forms, what happens straight after "the soft parts rot away"? (minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of years / an animal dies / the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncovered / it is quickly buried by mud or sand) → minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of yearsPrompt: Only the hard parts usually become fossils.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 12 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 2 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 24 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form? → 1200Prompt: How many groups of 2 cm are in 24 cm?
  2. A fossil is found in a layer deep below another layer. Which fossil is older? (you can never tell / they are the same age / the one in the deeper layer / the one in the higher layer) → the one in the deeper layerPrompt: Which layer was there first?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. A rock layer contains rounded pebbles and fossil river snails. What was the environment when it formed? (a desert with no water / a glacier / the deep ocean floor / a river) → a riverPrompt: What rounds pebbles, and where do these snails live?
  2. At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 5 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 25 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form? → 500Prompt: How many groups of 5 cm are in 25 cm?

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 river has cut a canyon and you can see many layers in the walls. What do the layers show?

    • A. a record of how the area changed over a very long time
    • B. paint added by people
    • C. one year of weather
    • D. the river's colour

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

  4. Question 4

    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?

    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

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 1 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 6 cm thick. About how many years did it take to form?

    Answer

  7. Question 7

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

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

  8. Question 8

    At the bottom of a lake, mud builds up about 1 cm every 100 years. A layer of mud is 3 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. a record of how the area changed over a very long time

  2. 2. 500

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

  4. 4. 800

  5. 5. 400

  6. 6. 600

  7. 7. C. the one in the deeper layer

  8. 8. 300