• 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 "the sediment slowly turns into rock"? (the fossil is found in the rock millions of years later / a sea creature dies / layers of sediment cover it / its shell sinks to the sea floor) → the fossil is found in the rock millions of years laterPrompt: Fossils form very slowly, buried in rock.
2. A footprint preserved in rock is called a… (trace fossil / crystal / skeleton / mineral) → trace fossilPrompt: It shows something the animal did, not its body.
3. In how a fossil forms, what happens straight after "minerals slowly replace the bones over millions of years"? (the soft parts rot away / an animal dies / it is quickly buried by mud or sand / the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncovered) → the rock is worn away and the fossil is uncoveredPrompt: Only the hard parts usually become fossils.

• Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
• Share the objective: Compare fossils with living plants and animals. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Which living thing is most similar to this fossil: woolly mammoth?
• Step 1: Both have trunks and tusks; mammoths had long hair for cold climates.
• Step 2: So the answer is: elephant
• Answer: elephant
• 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. Which living thing is most similar to this fossil: woolly mammoth? (dragonflies today / elephant / nautilus / modern birds) → elephantPrompt: Look for a shared feature: trunk, shell, wings, teeth or leaf shape.
2. How is a woolly mammoth different from an elephant today? (It lived in the sea. / It had thick, long hair and small ears for cold weather. / It could fly. / It had no trunk.) → It had thick, long hair and small ears for cold weather.Prompt: Mammoths lived during the Ice Age.

• 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. Archaeopteryx fossils show feathers AND teeth. What does this suggest? (It was a kind of fish. / Birds are related to reptiles such as dinosaurs. / Birds have always had teeth. / Feathers are made of teeth.) → Birds are related to reptiles such as dinosaurs.Prompt: Which living animals have feathers, and which have teeth like this?
2. True or false? Ammonites are still common in today's seas. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Which fossil groups are extinct, and which have living relatives?

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