LESSON PLAN BY: Katherine Keeling
Lesson: Fossils Length: 45 minutes- 1 hour
Age or Grade Intended: 5th grade
Academic Standard: Science: Interdependence of Life and Evolution
5.4.8 Observe that and describe how fossils can be compared to one another and to living organisms according to their similarities and differences.
Performance Objectives:
Students will be able describe a fossils’ characteristics in their journal, writing at least two sentences with correct punctuation describing each fossil.
In groups of four, students will create a chart comparing the different fossil’s size, shape and texture with 100% percent accuracy.
Advanced Preparation by the Teacher:
The teacher will need to provide each student with: a ruler, toothbrush, journal and pencil.
The teacher will need to separate students into groups of four.
The teacher will need to provide 1 piece of poster board for each group of four students as well as markers and or colored pencils or crayons.
The teacher will need to gather four different types of fossils for the students to examine and explore in their groups. There should be four different fossils per group so that each student is able to examine at least one fossil during the encouraging stage.
Procedure:
Engage:
To introduce the lesson ask students engaging questions. Start out with broad questions and then get more specific.
Questions to ask:
Encouraging stage:
Break the students into the groups of four the teacher has pre-selected. Give each group a cardboard box with at least four different types of fossils inside, rulers for each student, a toothbrush for each student and gloves. Encourage the students to explore each fossil and note distinctive characteristics. Encourage them to use their tools to make observations and guess what species the fossils belong to.
Engage:
1. Instruct the students to get out their journals and a pencil and note the observations they made about each fossil. Explain to them that they will need to write at least two sentences describing each fossil in the box.
2. After the students are done writing in their journals, go around to each group and show the class the fossils that each group had, and tell the students the name of the species and part that each fossil came from.
3. Pass out a piece of poster board and markers and or colored pencils and crayons to each group.
4. Explain to the students that in their groups they will be making a chart comparing the different fossils they examined. They will write the type of fossil that they examined and then write what the size in inches (measuring with the ruler), the shape of the fossil, and the texture of the fossil. Each group will do this for all of the fossils they examined.
5. After each group has finished their poster ask for volunteers from each group to share their poster/chart with the rest of the class.
Adaptations/Enrichment:
For students who are visually impaired offer them a magnifying glass to help them be able to observe and notice details on the fossils.
Encourage the gifted students in the class to write more then two sentences in their journal describing each fossil.
Self-Reflection: Observe the students over the course of the lesson. See if they both understood and enjoyed the lesson. Look for parts of the lesson that could be improved, and think of ways that the lesson could be adapted if need be. The teacher should then ask themselves the following questions: Did the students get to explore? Do the students understand what fossils are? Can the students compare the different fossils? Did the students write about their observations, and share them with their fellow classmates? Did the students enjoy the lesson?
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Level 1: Knowledge: What is a fossil?
Level 2: Comprehensive: Students will apply their knowledge of fossils and animals to guess what species the fossil came from.
Level 3: Application: Students will be able to apply their knowledge of size, shape, and texture to write accurate observations about the fossils in their journals.
Level 4: Analysis: Students will be able to state a reason why they believe a certain fossil came from a specific species.
Level 5: Synthesis: Students will create a poster/chart with their group comparing the different types of fossils they examined.
Level 6: Evaluation: The evaluation of the students understanding of the lesson will be the observation sentences they wrote in their journal, and the poster/chart they created with their group comparing the different fossils.
Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
The encouraging stage of the lesson as well as the poster/chart activity is interpersonal.
Writing in journals is a visual/spatial and intrapersonal activity.