Lesson Plans and Worksheets
Lesson Planet has transformed they way I teach. When I finally admitted that it was ok to utilize the knowledge of other teachers and began adopting these lesson plans the time I saved and excitement I felt energized my classroom.
- Lafe, AR
- 04-06-12
Paleontology Lesson Plans
Find teacher approved Paleontology lesson plan ideas and activities
Students study five of the seven life zones in North America. In this journalism lesson students use the Scientific Method working in teams. They use lab equipment and technology to create a presentation on five of the seven life zones in North America.
Students research the causes of the extinction of Pleistocene mammals. In this Pleistocene mammals lesson plan, students read essays to understand the Pleistocene epoch. Students write an essay about the personal impact of this epoch.
Springboard your fourth and fifth graders into the study geologic time. They will complete 7 activities to learn about geologic time and the topics most often associated with it: astronomy, creation, planet formation, volcanology, chemistry, and ecology. They will also explore the concept of visualizing geologic time throughout the activities.
Students investigate a fossil site and diagram a site map. They role play as paleontologists.
Fifth graders explore the work of paleontologists and the life of dinosaurs and create a sculpture of the bones of a Stegosaurus. The sculpture was then buried and used by other classes for a dig.
Third graders view video clips and complete a worksheet for each clip. If using a computer lab, each student can access the video and worksheets through Thinkport. If only one computer is available, the class may view the video through the use of a projector.
Analyze and make inferences from the information used by linguists to construct the evolution of languages. They research different dating techniques to explain how scientists infer age with evidence.
Students experience, through a "dig," the historical discovery of fossils which increasingly link whales to earlier land-dwelling mammals. They encounter the intermediate forms which show changes that lead to the modern whale.
Students build a scale model of the Solar System and determine the time other planets take to travel around the Sun in comparison to the time of the Earth's revolution. The velocity of the planets are also determined in this lesson.
Students create a short story about a dinosaur, draw a picture about their story and create a diorama project around their dinosaur in this exciting Science lesson for the 4th or 5th grade classroom. Optional activities are also given.
