Academic standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.2
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.3
- Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.4
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.3
- Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.3
- Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.3
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.6
- Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 2 Language...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.4
- Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.6
- Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (See grade 3 Language...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.4
- Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.4.6
- Differentiate between contexts that call for formal English (e.g., presenting ideas) and situations where informal discourse is appropriate (e.g.,...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.4
- Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.5.6
- Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1...
- GLE 0201.1.1
- Demonstrate control of basic English usage, mechanics, spelling, and sentence
structure.
- GLE 0201.1.2
- Employ a variety of strategies to decode words and expand vocabulary.
- GLE 0301.1.1
- Demonstrate knowledge of Standard English usage, mechanics, and spelling.
- GLE 0301.2.2
- Continue to develop basic speaking skills necessary for communication.
- GLE 0401.1.1
- Demonstrate knowledge of Standard English usage, mechanics, and spelling.
- GLE 0401.2.1
- Continue to develop oral language skills necessary for communication.
- GLE 0501.1.1
- Demonstrate knowledge of Standard English usage, mechanics, and spelling.
- GLE 0501.2.2
- Continue to develop strategies for expressing thoughts and ideas clearly and
effectively.
- GLE 0601.1.1
- Demonstrate control of Standard English through the use of grammar and
mechanics (punctuation, capitalization, and spelling).
- GLE 0807.5.6
- Investigate fossils in sedimentary rock layers to gather evidence of changing life forms.
- SPI 0301.1.15
- Recognize root words and their various inflections (e.g., walks, walking,
walked).
- SPI 0301.1.9
- Identify the correct use of commas with dates, addresses, items in a series, and
the greeting and closing of a friendly letter.
- SPI 0401.1.10
- Choose the correct use of quotation marks and commas in direct quotations.
- SPI 0401.1.14
- Use prefixes, suffixes, and root words as aids in determining meaning within context.
- SPI 0401.1.16
- Determine the meaning of unfamiliar words using context clues, dictionaries, and glossaries.
- SPI 0501.1.2
- Identify the correct use of verbs (i.e., action/linking, regular/irregular,
agreement, tenses) within context.
- SPI 0501.2.4
- Organize ideas in the most effective order for an oral presentation.
- SPI 0601.1.1
- Identify the correct use of nouns (i.e., common/proper, singular/plural,
possessives) and pronouns (i.e., agreement, subject, object) within context.
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.PWR.3
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when decoding isolated words and in connected text.
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.SC.6
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking and conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including...
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.VA.7a
- Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 2 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of...
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.VA.7b
- Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.VA.7c
- Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts, including using adjectives and adverbs to describe.
- TSS.ELA.2.FL.WC.4
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words; write legibly.
- TSS.ELA.2.SL.PKI.6
- Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
- TSS.ELA.3.FL.SC.6
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when speaking and conventions of standard English grammar and usage, including...
- TSS.ELA.3.FL.WC.4
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words; write legibly.
- TSS.ELA.3.SL.PKI.4
- Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an...
- TSS.ELA.3.SL.PKI.6
- Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.
- TSS.ELA.4.FL.WC.4
- Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills when encoding words; write legibly.
- TSS.ELA.4.SL.PKI.4
- Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to...
- TSS.ELA.4.SL.PKI.6
- Recognize that different situations call for formal vs. informal English, and use formal English when appropriate.
- TSS.ELA.5.SL.PKI.4
- Report on a topic or text, or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main...
- TSS.ELA.5.SL.PKI.6
- Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation.
- TSS.ELA.6.L.CSE.1
- Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage.
Alignment of this item to academic standards is based on recommendations from content creators, resource curators, and visitors to this website. It is the responsibility of each educator to verify that the materials are appropriate for your content area, aligned to current academic standards, and will be beneficial to your specific students.
Essential and guiding questions:
Interpretation Questions:
Procedure Set (1) A:
- After you have arranged the cards in order, write your sequence of letters (using each letter only once) on a separate piece of paper. Starting with the top card, the letters should be in order from youngest to oldest.
- How do you know that "X" is older than "M"?
- Explain why "D" in the rock layer represented by DM is the same age as "M."
- Explain why "D" in the rock layer represented by OXD is older than "D" in the rock layer represented by DM.
Procedure Set (1) B:
- Using the letters printed in the lower left-hand corner of each card, write the sequence of letters from the youngest layer to the oldest layer (i.e., from the top of the vertical stack to the bottom). This will enable your teacher to quickly check whether you have the correct sequence.
- Which fossil organisms could possibly be used as index fossils?
- Name three organisms represented that probably could not be used as index fossils and explain why.
- In what kinds of rocks might you find the fossils from this activity?
- State the Law of Superposition and explain how this activity illustrates this law.
Procedure Set (2) A:
- After you have arranged the cards in order, write your sequence of letters (using each letter only once) on a separate piece of paper. Starting with the top card, the letters should be in order from youngest to oldest. The correct sequence of letters for the cards in Set A from youngest to oldest rock strata is MDXONBUAGCT. Please note that none of the letters in this sequence may be reversed and still be correct. The sequence must be exactly in the order as written. It is not uncommon to have students reverse the M and D for example and begin the sequence with DM because that is the way they are printed on the card. It is good at this time to remind them that these letters represent fossils in a rock layer and that one fossil next to another within a rock layer implies no particular sequencing; they both are approximately the same age as that particular rock layer. The following question may help clarify this point.
- How do you know that "X" is older than "M"? "X" is older than "M" because it appears in an older rock strata (i.e., the card beneath the "DM" card). "M" is not present in the card below it in the stack and is, therefore, younger.
- Explain why "D" in the rock layer represented by DM is the same age as "M." Since fossils D and M died and were deposited in the same rock layer, they both are the same age as the rock layer.
- Explain why "D" in the rock layer represented by OXD is older than "D" in the rock layer represented by DM. Using the Law of Superposition, the rock layer OXD is beneath rock layer DM and, therefore, is older. The fossils within rock layer OXD (i.e., fossils O, X, and D) are older than the fossils in the layer above it (i.e., D and M in rock layer DM). Therefore, D in the rock layer OXD is older than D in the rock layer DM.
Procedure Set (2) B:
- Using the letters printed in the lower left-hand corner of each card, write the sequence of letters from the youngest layer to the oldest layer (i.e., from the top of the vertical stack to the bottom). This will enable your teacher to quickly check whether you have the correct sequence.
- Which fossil organisms could possibly be used as index fossils? The graptolite, placoderm, ammonite, ichthyosaur, and shark's tooth could possibly be used as index fossils since they are found in only one layer. Technically, however, given only this set of strata, one cannot say that the shark's tooth and ichthyosaur could be used as index fossils because we do not know if they continue in younger rock layers above this set of strata.
- Name three organisms represented that probably could not be used as index fossils and explain why. The brachiopod, crinoid, eurypterid, foraminifera, gastropod, horn coral, pelecypod, and trilobite could probably not be used as index fossils since they overlap more than one stratum.
- In what kinds of rocks might you find the fossils from this activity? Marine sedimentary rocks such as limestone, shale, and sandstone might contain fossils similar to those depicted in this activity.
- State the Law of Superposition and explain how this activity illustrates this law. In a "normal" horizontal sequence of rocks, the oldest rock layers will be on the bottom with successively younger rocks on top. This activity illustrates this law because when the cards are placed in the correct order, the vertical stack shows the oldest fossils in a rock layer in the bottom of the stack and the youngest fossils in rock stratum on the top.
