Lesson Plan: Evidence of Change
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to identify which Earth processes impact rock strata and describe how scientists use patterns in rocks and fossils to explain historical events.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- describe some of Earth’s processes that form rock layers,
- describe some of Earth’s processes that disrupt rock layers,
- explain what an index fossil is,
- explain what a key bed is,
- explain how scientists use index fossils and key beds to determine events in the geological history of the Earth,
- explain evidence for the mass extinction.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- what fossils are,
- Earth’s processes,
- types of rock: igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary,
- plate tectonics.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the formation of fossils,
- fossil types,
- the geologic time scale.
