Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 9

Teacher Education Lesson Plan Template

Teacher: Colleen Rowan

Date: 2/16 2/19

Title of Lesson: Fossil Finds

Cooperating Teacher: Jamie Mosquera

Core Components
Subject, Content Area, or Topic

Science: Fossils
Student Population

25 Students: 7 gifted and talented students, 1 ESL Student


Learning Objectives

Students will be able to explain why scientists study fossils and what they can learn from them.
Student will be able to make inferences from reading.
Virginia Essential Knowledge and Skills:

SCI.4.5.3 Describe why scientists study rocks and fossils.


The age of a rock reveals information about conditions of the past, including the age of Earth.
Fossils reveal information about life of the past, including environmental conditions. For example,
the presence of an oyster fossil may indicate an area was once under water.
SOL 4.6 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts.
f) Draw conclusions and make simple inferences using textual information as support.
g) Distinguish between cause and effect.
Materials/Resources
Observation and inference sheets
Clip boards
Fossil dig site posters

High Yield Instructional Strategies Used (Marzano, 2001)


Check if Used
Strategy
Return

Identifying Similarities & Differences


45%

Summarizing & Note Taking


34%

Reinforcing Efforts & Providing Recognition


29%

Homework & Practice


28%

Nonlinguistic Representations
27%

Cooperative Learning
23%
Setting Goals & Providing Feedback
23%

Generating & Testing Hypothesis


23%

Questions, Cues, & Advanced Organizers


22%
DOES YOUR INSTRUCTIONAL INPUT & MODELING YIELD THE POSITIVE
RETURNS YOU WANT FOR YOUR STUDENTS?
Check if Used Strategy
Return

Teach Others/Immediate Use of Learning


95%

Practice by Doing
75%

Discussion
50%
Demonstration
30%

Time
(min.)

Audio Visual
Reading
Lecture

20%
10%
05%

Process Components
State the Objectives (grade-level terms)
We are going to discover why scientists study fossils and what fossils can tell us about earths past.

2/16
5 min

Engage
Teacher will activate students prior knowledge by having students complete the first two sections
of a KWL chart.

2/16

Explain
The teacher will use the fossils PowerPoint to explain what fossils are, how they are formed, and
what scientists who study them are called. During this instruction, the teacher will ask engaging
questions: Why do paleontologists study fossils? What are mold and cast fossils similar to?
Why do you think most fossils are of fish and marine animals? Why are there few fossils of
plants? How is a paleontologist similar to a detective?
Explore
In groups of three, students will visit dig site from around the world that are set up around the
room. At each station, students will make observations, record inferences, and sketch their guesses
of what this are looked like in the time the fossils were alive. Each student will have a job of either
the reporter, recorder, or sketcher. When the teacher sees that the students are ready, she will
instruct the students to move to the next station.
Elaborate
After completing the fossil dig site stations, the class will come back together and the teacher will
provide students with additional information about the dig sites so students can see if their
inferences were correct.
Evaluate
After completing all of the activities and instruction, students will complete the last section of their
KWL chart. The teacher will use this to assess students understanding.

20 min

2/19
20 min

2/19
5 min

2/19
5 min
2/19
2 min

Closure
Everything we have been learning over the last few weeks (erosion, weather, deposition, the rock
cycle, and now fossils) have shown us that the earth is constantly changing. Imagine what the earth
will look like in the future.

Differentiation Strategies (enrichment, accommodations, remediation, or by learning style).


Since the ESL student will not be able to read the fossil descriptions or write responses, I have included
several images for each station. She will also be grouped with three other students who have worked well
with her in the past.
Classroom Management Issues (optional)
Students lab roles will be preassigned so that students will not argue over what job they do. Teacher will
take the time before beginning the fossil site activity to model what good team work looks like.

Dig Site #1
Location: Alnif, Morocco
Morocco is a country in Africa that is characterized by rugged
mountains and large portions of desert. It is one of only three
countries (with Spain and France) to have both Atlantic and
Mediterranean coastlines.
Fossils Found: Trilobites
Trilobites are sea creatures that became extinct a long time ago.
They are related to other arthropods (animals with exoskeletons)
such as crabs, scorpions, and insects. They are most closely related
to horseshoe crabs. These animals lived deep on the ocean floor.

Dig Site # 2
Location: Vega Island
Vega Island is part of the continent of Antarctica. It is also close to
the country of Norway. Antarctica is the coldest of earths
continents and reaches the lowest temperatures on the planet.
Vega Island is a frozen dessert where little rain or snow falls. Very
few plants and animals can survive here.
Fossils Found: A team of Argentinean and U.S. scientists has
found fossils of a duck-billed dinosaur, along with remains of
Antarctica's most ancient bird and an array of giant marine
reptiles. The tooth of a duck-billed dinosaur, or hadrosaur, was
found in sands from the Cretaceous period. This is the first duckbilled dinosaur to be found outside the Americas.

Dig Site # 3
Location: The Paris Basin, France
France is a country on the continent of Europe. The Paris Basin is
a small geological structure in Northern France. The climate in
Northern France is a semi-continental climate which is very
similar to that of Virginia. The landscape where the fossils were
found is full of hills and rock formations.
Fossils Found:
Meganeura is an extinct insect from the Carboniferous period,
which resembles and are related to the present-day dragonflies.
They have wingspans of up to 25.6 inches. Thats more than 2
feet! This is one of the largest known flying insect species.

Dig Site # 4

Location: The Winton Trackway, Australia


This site is found in the city of Winton Australia on the continent
of Australia. This area has a very warm climate and is
characterized by its abundant beaches and coastal life.

Fossils Found: The trackway contains over 3,000 different


dinosaur foot prints of many different sizes. Some of the foot
prints are very large and others are very small. Some of the foot
prints form patterns and others are random. It is not possible to tell
exactly what type of dinosaurs left these foot prints.

Dig Site # ____


Observations:
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________
Inferences:
What do you think the earths surface in this area used to be like?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________
What do you think the climate in this area used to be like?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________
What do you think this animal/plant used to be like?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________
How old do you think the rock in this area used to be?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________

Dig Site # ____


Sketch an image of what this area, animal, or plant looked like in the time
these fossils were alive.

Dig Site # ____


Sketch an image of what this area, animal, or plant looked like in the time
these fossils were alive.

Вам также может понравиться