• 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 "minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of years"? (the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncovered / 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 uncoveredPrompt: 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? (they are the same age / the fossil in the deeper layer / it is impossible to say anything / the fossil near the top) → the fossil in the deeper layerPrompt: Layers build up one on top of another.
3. A footprint preserved in rock is called a… (crystal / trace fossil / mineral / skeleton) → trace fossilPrompt: It shows something the animal did, not its body.

• Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
• Share the objective: What fossils tell us about past environments. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: What does this fossil evidence tell us: fossil fish in rocks on dry land?
• Step 1: Fish need water, so water once covered the area.
• Step 2: So the answer is: there was once a lake or sea there
• Answer: there was once a lake or sea there
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. What does this fossil evidence tell us: fossil coral in a desert? (there was once a warm, shallow sea / the land was once warm and wet / the rock was once under the sea / there was once a lake or sea there) → there was once a warm, shallow seaPrompt: Where does that kind of living thing live today?
2. A rock layer holds fossil fish, and the layer above holds fossil land plants. What happened? (Fish turned into plants. / Plants lived under the sea. / Water covered the area, and later it became dry land. / Nothing changed.) → Water covered the area, and later it became dry land.Prompt: Lower layers are usually older.

• 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.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. True or false? Fossil shells on mountains show the rock was once under water. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Where do living relatives of the fossil live today?
2. Fossils of the same kind of fern are found in South America, Africa, India and Antarctica. What is the best explanation? (Ferns grow in the sea. / People carried the fossils around. / The fern swam across the oceans. / These lands were once joined together.) → These lands were once joined together.Prompt: Could a land plant cross a whole ocean?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.