Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Biology: History of Life

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes how scientists learn about the past by examining and dating fossils.
Website
PBS

Nova: A Brief History of Earth

For Students 9th - 10th
This timeline is a good resource if you are looking for brief descriptions of the geologic periods. Descriptions include pictures of common organisms for each period and the range of time covered by each period.
Lesson Plan
Other

American Coal Foundation: Lesson Plan: How Was Coal Formed?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Two-part lesson in which middle schoolers learn about when and how coal was formed. They will do research on geologic time frames and order them by eon, era, period, or epoch.
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Fourth Grade Science: Earth Science: Relative Ages of Rocks

For Students 4th - 5th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Looks at how stratigraphy can be used to determine the relative ages of rocks, how unconformities occur, ways to match rock layers in different areas, and how...
Unit Plan
Georgia Department of Education

Ga Virtual Learning: Historical Geology

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive tutorial you will explore how geologists use clues in rocks to determine the order in which rocks formed. Learn how principles of radioactivity are used to assign actual ages to rocks. Students will explore fossils...
Handout
University of California

Ucmp: Cnidarian Fossil Records

For Students 9th - 10th
At this University of California, Berkeley site you can find out far back the Cnidarians show up in Fossil records. Also, find out how much they have changed over time! Be sure to click on the highlighted words to go to other interesting...
eBook
John Wiley & Sons

Wiley: Earth Through Time: Life of the Paleozoic: Phylum Chordata

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the evolution of life in the Paleozoic Era based on fossil evidence of the five classes of fishes. Read about the role these chordates played in the evolution of tetrapods.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: American Field Guide: Relative Dating Telling Time Using Fossils

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This website integrates video footage and information with lesson plans and activities to teach students about the concept of relative dating. Students will graph a range chart for ammonites, determine the geologic age for several rocks,...
Handout
Other

The Japan Times: Neanderthal Man Type Site Rediscovered

For Students 9th - 10th
The site gives a description of both the original and current finds at Neander Valley. DNA was used in identifying relics.
Interactive
PBS

Nova: Stories in Amber

For Students 9th - 10th
Like a time machine, amber fossils take us back in the earth's history to discover the plants, animals and ecological relationships of prehistoric ecosystems. This resource has several interesting pictures of a variety of Dominican...
Website
Smithsonian Institution

National Museum of Natural History: Paleobiology: The Burgess Shale

For Students 9th - 10th
This terrific site from the National Museum of Natural History gives general information about the Burgess Shale and the fossils found within. Use the links to go the Burgess Shale specimens page where there are drawings of many of the...
Website
University of California

Understanding Evolution: Lines of Evidence: The Science of Evolution

For Students 9th - 10th
Evolution can be supported by the lines of evidence which are presented in this resource. Recognize these lines: fossil evidence, homologies, distribution in time and space, and evidence by example.
Interactive
Children's Discovery Museum

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose: Mammoth Discovery: Meet Lupe

For Students 9th - 10th
Meet Lupe, a young mammoth who lived during the Ice Age, and learn all about her existence during that time period. Take a virtual trip to the actual mammoth dig site in San Jose and see what the scientists discovered.
Website
American Museum of Natural History

American Museum of Natural History: Paleont O Logy: The Big Dig

For Students Pre-K - 1st
This colorful and inviting resource houses tons of paleontology activities to explore. Play the Layers of Time puzzle game, create your own make-believe dig site by burying chicken bones in plaster of Paris, learn how to draw dinosaurs,...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Layer Cake Geology

For Teachers K - 1st
Using a cake analogy, this activity teaches concepts such as: geologic time, rock layers, fossils, Law of Superposition, and relative dating. Activity can be modified to grade level and appropriate content for students,
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Renew a Bead

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A quantitative illustration of how non-renewable resources are depleted while renewable resources continue to provide energy. The activity requires students to remove beads (units of energy) from a bag (representing a country). A certain...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Energy Sources Research

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Fact sheets are provided for several different energy resources as a starting point for students to conduct literature research on the way these systems work and their various pros and cons. Students complete a worksheet for homework or...
Website
BBC

Bbc Nature: Prehistoric Life: Jurassic Period

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the Earth in the Jurassic Period told by photos, news, videos, and external links with emphasis on what grew then, what lived then, the causes of mass extinction, types of fossils, and what life was like in general.
Handout
BBC

Bbc Nature: Prehistoric Life: Triassic Period

For Students 9th - 10th
Overview of the Earth in the Triassic Period as told by photos, news, and external links with an emphasis on what grew then, what lived then, the causes of mass extinction, types of fossils, and what life was like in general.
Website
The Field Museum

Field Museum: Exhibits: Evolving Planet: Tertiary

For Students 9th - 10th
Delve into the Tertiary Period portion of the Evolving Planet exhibit, and trace the climate and continental shift during this time. Includes an overview of the period, a collection of images, and a look at the Tertiary Period's...
Graphic
Curated OER

Science Kids: Science Images: Fossil

For Students 9th - 10th
A great photo that shows a close up view of a fossilized frog. Set in stone, this frog is now a fossil when once it was a fully grown part of the animal world. Times have changed for this unlucky guy but at least he's added to the world...
Activity
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Paleotopia: Windows to the Past

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A link to a website that contains teacher materials for a game that reinforces the concepts learned about fossils. Students can understand how the record of life on Earth is revealed by fossils as they become paleontologist in this game...
Lesson Plan
Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Learning Lab: Prehistoric Climate Change and Why It Matters Today

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In a lesson plan in this issue of Smithsonian in Your Classroom, students do the work of a team of paleontologists studying a time of rising carbon dioxide and rapid global warming during the Eocene epoch. By examining fossils of tree...
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: The Industial Revolution

For Students 9th - 10th
At one time, humans, fueled by the animals and plants they ate and the wood they burned, or aided by their domesticated animals, provided most of the energy in use. All life operated within the fairly immediate flow of energy from the...

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