Unit Overview – Rocks and Fossils
The big picture stuff: Students have studied the three main types of rocks and the five main types of fossils in middle school. These are foundations from which students learn the position of fossils in the rock layers and the types of rock where fossils are most likely found. In examining fossils themselves, students will discover that some organisms look much like those alive today and some look very different.
Next Generation Science Standards – Middle School (NGSS-MS):
Emphasize: finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.
Core ideas: The collection of fossils and their placement in chronological order (e.g., through the location of the sedimentary layers in which they are found or through radioactive dating) is known as the fossil record. It documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth.
Emphasize: explanations of the evolutionary relationships among organisms in terms of similarity or differences of the gross appearance of anatomical structures.
Core ideas: Anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and between them and organisms in the fossil record, enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.
Emphasize: inferring general patterns of relatedness among embryos of different organisms by comparing the macroscopic appearance of diagrams or pictures.
Core ideas: Comparison of the embryological development of different species also reveals similarities that show relationships not evident in the fully-formed anatomy.
Emphasize: on using mathematical models, probability statements, and proportional reasoning to support explanations of trends in changes to populations over time
Core ideas: Adaptation by natural selection acting over generations is one important process by which species change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common; those that do not become less common. Thus, the distribution of traits in a population changes.
Emphasize: how analyses of rock formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of major events in Earth’s history. Examples of Earth’s major events could range from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic eruptions.
Core ideas: The geologic time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth’s history. Analyses of rock strata and the fossil record provide only relative dates, not an absolute scale.
Core ideas: The more precisely a design task’s criteria and constraints can be defined, the more likely it is that the designed solution will be successful. Specification of constraints includes consideration of scientific principles and other relevant knowledge that are likely to limit possible solutions.
Science and Engineering:
Crosscutting concepts:
California Science Standards: Earth Science
4c. Students know that the rock cycle includes the formation of new sediment and rocks and that rocks are often found in layers, with the oldest generally on the bottom.
4e. Students know fossils provide evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.
4f. Students know how movements of Earth’s continental and oceanic plates through time, with associated changes in climate and geographic connections, have affected the past and present distribution of organisms. scale.
Investigation and Experimentation Standards:
7a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
7b. Use a variety of print and electronic resources (including the World Wide Web) to collect information and evidence as part of a research project.
7c. Communicate the logical connection among hypotheses, science concepts, tests conducted, data collected, and conclusions drawn from the scientific evidence.
7d. Construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth’s plates and cell structure).
7 e. Communicate the steps and results from an investigation in written reports and oral presentations.