Lesson 3: Fossils and Fossil Formation
Duration of Days: 4
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to analyze fossil evidence, model fossilization processes, and use fossil data to reconstruct past environments and evolutionary changes in Earth’s history.
-How do physical and chemical processes lead to fossil formation over geologic time?
-What environmental conditions increase or limit the likelihood of fossil preservation?
-How do different fossil types provide different types of scientific evidence?
-How can fossil evidence be used to reconstruct ancient ecosystems and environments?
-What patterns in the fossil record support the idea of biological change over time?
-How do scientists use fossil evidence in combination with rock data to interpret Earth’s history?
-Fossil
-Fossilization
-Sedimentation
-Sedimentary rock
-Taphonomy
-Mold fossil
-Cast fossil
-Trace fossil
-Body fossil
-Carbon film fossil
-Amber preservation
-Preservation bias
HS-ESS1-4 – Use fossil evidence from rock strata to construct explanations of Earth’s history and environmental change.
HS-LS4-1 – Construct explanations based on fossil evidence that biological evolution occurs over time.
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
-Patterns (fossil distribution, organism changes over time)
-Cause and Effect (environmental conditions influencing fossil formation)
-Stability and Change (ecosystems preserved through fossil records)
-Scale, Proportion, and Quantity (fossil formation over long time periods)
-Students will analyze fossil datasets to infer environmental conditions and ecosystem structure.
-Students will interpret fossil preservation scenarios to determine likelihood of fossil formation.
-Students will construct CER explanations using fossil evidence to reconstruct past environments.
-Students will compare fossil types and justify what information each provides about Earth’s history.
Students will investigate fossil formation as an evidence-based process shaped by environmental, chemical, and geological conditions. Students will analyze why only certain organisms and environments are preserved in the fossil record, introducing the concept of preservation bias.
Students will use fossil evidence to reconstruct ancient environments and interpret how ecosystems have changed over time.
Activities may include:
-Modeling fossil formation using sediment and organism simulations
-Analyzing fossil preservation scenarios to determine likelihood of fossilization
-Classifying fossil types and evaluating what information each preserves
-Interpreting fossil distribution data to reconstruct ancient environments
-Constructing CER explanations linking fossil evidence to environmental change
Purpose
Develop students’ ability to use fossil evidence as a scientific data source for reconstructing Earth’s past environments, emphasizing reasoning about what the fossil record can and cannot show.
DOK Level
DOK 3–4 – Strategic Thinking to Extended Reasoning
(analysis of incomplete evidence, interpretation of environmental systems, and CER construction)
-Museum fossil collections and modern paleontology research
-Use of fossil evidence in reconstructing extinct ecosystems
-Local and global fossil sites that inform Earth’s environmental history
-All organisms become fossils after death
-Fossils always preserve complete organisms
-Fossils form quickly under normal conditions
-The fossil record is complete rather than biased
-Fossils only provide biological information, not environmental data
-Hands-on fossil simulation models with variable conditions
-Scaffolded classification charts linking fossil type to information value
-Chunked datasets for fossil interpretation tasks
-Guided CER writing with evidence banks and sentence frames
-Visual supports for fossil formation environments
-Extension analysis of preservation bias in fossil records
-Fossil-based CER: “What does this fossil evidence tell us about past environments?”
-Fossil classification and interpretation lab
-Environmental reconstruction from fossil data sets
-Diagram analysis of fossil formation conditions
-Exit tickets evaluating preservation likelihood and reasoning
-Fossil replicas and sample sets
-Sediment/fossil formation simulation materials
-Fossil distribution and environmental data sets
-Classification charts and visual guides
-Paleontology case study readings or images