ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (4) 36 :

36. Write informative or explanatory text about a topic using sources, incorporating academic vocabulary, and including an introduction, facts, details with elaboration, and a conclusion.

[SC2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations and fossils in rock layers that Earth changes over time through both slow and rapid processes (e.g., rock layers containing shell fossils appearing above rock layers containing plant fossils and no shells indicating a change from land to water over time, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom indicating that over time a river cut through the rock).

Students will explore how changes in rocks and land formations over time explain the large number of aquatic fossils that can be found across the state of Alabama. They will model volcanic eruptions and fossil formation through a hands-on activity using baking soda, vinegar, and play dough. Then they will read a news article to determine that Alabama was underwater at one time, which explains how aquatic fossils are found across the state. Finally, they will write and illustrate an explanation that shows how layers and fossils found in rock are evidence that these rocks changed over time.

This lesson results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations and fossils in rock layers that Earth changes over time through both slow and rapid processes (e.g., rock layers containing shell fossils appearing above rock layers containing plant fossils and no shells indicating a change from land to water over time, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom indicating that over time a river cut through the rock).

[ELA2021] (4) 35 :

35. Write personal or fictional narratives using a logical plot, transitional words and phrases, sensory details, and dialogue, and providing a sense of closure.

In this lesson, students will conduct an experiment to compare similarities and differences with wind and water erosion.  Students will create a narrative story describing a particular rock formation based on evidence in the rock patterns, including an estimated time frame, plants and animals that may have been living in the environment, and the type of erosion that formed their rock formation.

This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 8 :

8 ) Make observations from media to obtain information about Earth's events that happen over a short period of time (e.g., tornados, volcanic explosions, earthquakes) or over a time period longer than one can observe (e.g., erosion of rocks, melting of glaciers).

[SC2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations and fossils in rock layers that Earth changes over time through both slow and rapid processes (e.g., rock layers containing shell fossils appearing above rock layers containing plant fossils and no shells indicating a change from land to water over time, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom indicating that over time a river cut through the rock).

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 8 :

8 ) Plan and carry out investigations that demonstrate the chemical and physical processes that form rocks and cycle Earth's materials (e.g., processes of crystallization, heating and cooling, weathering, deformation, and sedimentation).

Sedimentary rock is naturally formed in the Earth’s crust. It is formed when sediment deposits form layers, compact, and then cement together, creating a new rock. Sedimentary rocks are used for building materials, and sometimes they even contain fossils.

The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe how sedimentary rocks are formed during the rock cycle. There is a karaoke song that students can learn to help them remember the steps in the rock cycle process. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding. Students can use the information presented in this slide show to plan their own investigations.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (3) 9 :

9 ) Analyze and interpret data from fossils (e.g., type, size, distribution) to provide evidence of organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago (e.g., marine fossils on dry land, tropical plant fossils in arctic areas, fossils of extinct organisms in any environment).

[SC2015] (4) 12 :

12 ) Construct explanations by citing evidence found in patterns of rock formations and fossils in rock layers that Earth changes over time through both slow and rapid processes (e.g., rock layers containing shell fossils appearing above rock layers containing plant fossils and no shells indicating a change from land to water over time, a canyon with different rock layers in the walls and a river in the bottom indicating that over time a river cut through the rock).

Fossils are preserved traces or remains of living things. Paleontologists who study fossils look for teeth, bones, shells, petrified wood, molds and casts, traces or carbon shadows, or even entire animals.

The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe fossils and how they form. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.