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Science lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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. Fossils of tropical ferns have been found in Antarctica. What is the best explanation? (Antarctica has always been tropical / Ferns grow in ice today / The fossils were carried there by penguins / Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it south) → Antarctica was once in a warmer location, before plate movement carried it southPrompt: Continents move slowly over millions of years.
  2. Fossils: which statement is NOT true? (Fossils form in a few years. / Fossils in deeper rock layers are usually older. / Insects can be preserved in amber (fossilised tree resin). / 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. Why do we have very few fossils of jellyfish? (Jellyfish never existed in the past / They have no hard parts, so they usually rot before being preserved / They are too big / They live on land) → They have no hard parts, so they usually rot before being preservedPrompt: Most fossils are bones, shells or teeth.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 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. Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: D, C, A. Which layer is the youngest? (D / C / A) → APrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.
  2. Rock layers are found tilted and folded. What does this tell you? (They were laid down tilted / Forces moved the rock after the layers formed / They formed on the Moon / They are igneous rock) → Forces moved the rock after the layers formedPrompt: Sediment settles in flat, horizontal layers.

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 crack filled with igneous rock (a dyke) cuts through layers A, B and C. What can you say about its age? (It is younger than all three layers / Its age cannot be compared / It is the same age as layer B / It is older than all three layers) → It is younger than all three layersPrompt: A layer must exist before something can cut through it.
  2. Undisturbed rock layers, listed from the bottom up: E, C, A, B. Which layer is the youngest? (C / B / A / E) → BPrompt: Sediment settles on top of what is already there.

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

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Use rock layers to put events in order

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

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

    • A. A
    • B. B
    • C. C

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

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

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

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

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

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

  7. Question 7

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

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

  8. Question 8

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

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

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Answer key: Use rock layers to put events in order

  1. 1. B. B

  2. 2. D. The two layers formed at about the same time

  3. 3. C. C

  4. 4. D. Forces moved the rock after the layers formed

  5. 5. D. B

  6. 6. D. A

  7. 7. D. E

  8. 8. C. B