• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (The rock cycle). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. In the path from sedimentary to igneous rock, what comes straight after "buried deep and heated under pressure"? (melts to form magma / becomes metamorphic rock / sedimentary rock / magma cools to form igneous rock) → becomes metamorphic rockPrompt: Think about heat, pressure, melting, weathering and erosion.
2. Why is it called the rock "cycle"? (Rocks ride bicycles / Rocks never change / Rock materials are recycled from one type to another over millions of years / It happens once a year) → Rock materials are recycled from one type to another over millions of yearsPrompt: Can any rock type become another?
3. In the path from igneous to sedimentary rock, what comes straight after "igneous rock at the surface"? (compaction and cementation form sedimentary rock / erosion carries the sediment to the sea / weathering breaks it into pieces / layers of sediment build up) → weathering breaks it into piecesPrompt: Think about heat, pressure, melting, weathering and erosion.

• Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
• Share the objective: The Earth's atmosphere. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Where did most of the oxygen in today's atmosphere come from?
• Step 1: Algae and later plants released oxygen by photosynthesis.
• Step 2: So the answer is: photosynthesis by algae and plants over billions of years
• Answer: photosynthesis by algae and plants over billions of years
• 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 happened to much of the carbon dioxide in the early atmosphere? (It is all still in the air / It turned into nitrogen / It dissolved in oceans and was locked up in rocks and fossil fuels / It escaped to the Moon) → It dissolved in oceans and was locked up in rocks and fossil fuelsPrompt: Think of limestone, coal and oil.
2. Air is about 21% oxygen. About how many cm³ of oxygen are in 200 cm³ of air? → 42 cm³Prompt: Find 21% of 200.

• 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. What happened to much of the carbon dioxide in the early atmosphere? (It is all still in the air / It dissolved in oceans and was locked up in rocks and fossil fuels / It turned into nitrogen / It escaped to the Moon) → It dissolved in oceans and was locked up in rocks and fossil fuelsPrompt: Think of limestone, coal and oil.
2. Air is about 21% oxygen. About how many cm³ of oxygen are in 1000 cm³ of air? → 210 cm³Prompt: Find 21% of 1000.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-9.