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Science · Grade 4

Rocks, Fossils and Earth History

A canyon wall is like a history book written in stone. Learners model how layers of sediment become rock, use the rule that lower layers are usually older, and read the fossils in each layer to work out how a place changed from ocean to swamp to dry land. They then explain how patterns in rock formations, such as a river-cut canyon, show that landscapes change over very long times.

  • 3 lessons
  • About 100 minutes
  • Rocks and Earth history check: 9 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, label a picture, match pairs, type a number, put in order and sort into groups
See plans Included with Family, Teacher and School plans. Open in PlayOwl

What learners will discover

  • Explain how layers of sedimentary rock form and that, in undisturbed layers, lower layers are older than higher layers.
  • Use fossils in rock layers as evidence of past environments and of how a place changed over time.
  • Use patterns in rock formations to explain how a landscape has changed over time.

Lessons

  1. Layers tell time 5 steps3 practiceabout 30 min
  2. Fossils in the layers 5 steps3 practiceabout 33 min
  3. Patterns that reveal landscape change 7 steps3 practiceabout 37 min
  4. Rocks and Earth history check 9 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

  • Marble MountainLay straights, curves, drops and splitters to roll marbles down the mountain.
  • Bridge LabBuild a bridge from beams, brace it with triangles, and stay on budget.
  • Circuit Workshop 3DWire up batteries, bulbs and switches on a 3D workbench.

More 4th grade science

Guide for grown-ups