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Introduction to Layers

K-2nd Grade Earch Science

Content Topics

  • Geology
  • Paleontology

Duration 1.5 hours

Objective: 

The students will describe the connection between layers of sediment, sedimentary rock, fossils, and dinosaurs.

Purpose:

Students learn that Earth’s surface forms in layers and that fossils in these layers help us understand what life looked like long ago.

Guiding Questions: 

  • What are layers, and where do we see them in nature?
  • How do layers of sediment help form sedimentary rock?
  • What is a fossil, and how do fossils form over time?
  • How can rock layers help us understand what life looked like long ago?
  • What can fossils tell us about the plants and animals that once lived on Earth?

Education Standards:

  • K-ESS2-1: Use observations to describe patterns of the natural world, including rocks and soil.
  • 2-ESS2-3: Obtain information to identify where water and Earth materials are found (supports understanding natural materials like sediment and rock)
  • 2-ESS1-1: Use information from fossils to describe organisms and the environments they lived in long ago.
  •  1-LS3-1: Make observations to construct evidence-based accounts of how traits help determine similarities between parents and offspring (supports fossil comparison).

Materials and Resources:

Local Resources:

Part 1 (45 min)

Introduction/ Hook

Have students discuss plants and animals that are on our planet now. Tell them that today, they are going to meet a friend that is going to tell them about plants and animals that lived on earth many, many, many years ago.

Presentation

Present the introduction slideshow to the students. Pausing to discuss pictures and reading the script provided. Point out that the world was changing throughout each time period, causing different fossils to be present.

Activity

Students can create a mold fossil using the following directions. To press fossils into play dough, you can follow these steps:

  • Cover the bottom of a foil container with a layer of play dough that's about half an inch thick.
  • Gently press a dinosaur toy into the play dough and then carefully remove it.
  • To make the fossil easier to hang, you can push two 1-inch lengths of drinking straw into the play dough where you want holes for hanging.
  • Mix plaster of Paris with water according to the package instructions.
  • Pour the plaster of Paris over the play dough and smooth it out with your finger.
  • Let the fossil dry.
  • Carefully turn the fossil out of the foil container and remove the play dough. 

You can also make fossils using salt dough

  • Mix salt, flour, and water in a bowl until a soft dough forms.
  • Pinch off small amounts of dough and shape them into flat rounds.
  • Press a dinosaur toy into the dough.
  • Bake the fossils at 200° Fahrenheit until they are dry. 
  • The type of fossil you create is called a mold fossil because the dough forms a mold around the object, preserving an imprint of it.

Part 2 (40 Min)

Primary source/artifact:

Look at the collection of fossils provided and talk about which layer it belongs to. 

Activity or discussion: 

Talk with students about important events in their life. This could be when they were born, when they started school, when they had siblings. Pass out index cards and have students write or draw one event on each index card. 

Have students stack their cards with the first event on the bottom and the newest on the top. This shows the “layers” of their life. Just like this shows the layers of our life, paleontologists use layers like this to date fossils.  They compare the fossils to figure out if two layers are from the same time or if one is older or newer. 

Put together the sedimentary rock layer puzzle. Look at each of the fossils and discuss what the area would have looked like at that time.

Share out or Assessment (exit ticket/ quiz/ kahoot/ etc.) (5 min)

Complete the matching game of fossil to layer / era.