MS-ESS1-4.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence from rock strata for

how the geologic time scale is used to organize Earth's 4.6-billion-year-old
history. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how analyses of rock
formations and the fossils they contain are used to establish relative ages of
major events in Earths history. Examples of Earths major events could range
from being very recent (such as the last Ice Age or the earliest fossils of homo
sapiens) to very old (such as the formation of Earth or the earliest evidence of
life). Examples can include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins,
the evolution or extinction of particular living organisms, or significant volcanic
eruptions.][Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include recalling the
names of specific periods or epochs and events within them.]

Learning Performance 1: Students will construct a scientific explanation about the processes of
rock formation and rock cycling. (SEP, DCI)
Learning Performance 2: Students will construct a scientific explanation for how sedimentary
rock leads to the formation of fossils. (SEP, DCI)
Learning Performance 3: Students will use a model of rock strata to explain the relationship
between the position of the fossil and its relative age. (SEP, DCI, CCC)

Pre-Assessment Tasks

Learning Performance 1: Students will construct a scientific explanation about the processes of
rock formation and rock cycling.

1. Alvin and the chipmunks are studying rocks and minerals in school. They all have different
ideas about where rocks come from. Which of the chipmunks do you agree with? ___________
Explain your answer: ___________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. Rate the following terms using the vocabulary rating scale

Melting: ________
Compaction and Cementation: ________
Cooling: ________
Heat and Pressure: ________
Weather and Erosion: ________

Vocabulary rating scale:

1: I have never heard this word before
2: I have heard this word before, but I
dont know what it means
3: I think I know what this word means
4: I definitely know what this word means
5: I know what this word means and I can
explain it to a friend

Learning Performance 2: Students will construct a scientific explanation for how sedimentary
rock leads to the formation of fossils.
3. What do fossils tell us? _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
4. Rate the following terms using the vocabulary rating scale
Sediment: ________
Rock Layers: ________
Tectonic Plates: ________
Erosion: ________
Petrified Fossils: ________
Molds: ________
Casts: ________
Carbon Films: ________
Trace Fossils: ________
Preserved Remains: ________

Vocabulary rating scale:

1: I have never heard this word before
2: I have heard this word before, but I
dont know what it means
3: I think I know what this word means
4: I definitely know what this word means
5: I know what this word means and I can
explain it to a friend

Learning Performance 3: Students will use a model of rock strata to explain the relationship
between the position of the fossil and its relative age.

!
4. Which layer is the oldest:
a) green
b) red
c) yellow
5. Explain your answer: _________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Assessment Tasks
Name: ____________________________
Unit 5 Assessment - History of Life on Earth
Learning Performance 1: Students will construct a scientific explanation about the processes of
rock formation and rock cycling.

!
1. Claim: I think that Theodore / Alvin / Simon (circle one) is correct.
2. Evidence: He said ______________________________________________________.
3. Reasoning: The evidence proves my claim because ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________.
4.

Choose another chipmunk and explain why his statement is incorrect. ______________
_____________________________________________________________________.

!
Word Bank
Melting
Heat and Pressure

Compaction and Cementation

Weather and Erosion

Cooling

5. Examine the diagram above, and use the word bank to label the arrows with the correct
process.
A: ___________________________
B: ___________________________
C: ___________________________
D: ___________________________
E: ___________________________

Learning Performance 2: Students will construct a scientific explanation for how sedimentary
rock leads to the formation of fossils.

!
6. A nest of 15 juvenile dinosaurs (protoceratops) was recently discovered in Mongolia. The
following steps sequence the events from a living organism to a fossil.
Step 1: Give a realistic major geologic event that could have killed these dinosaurs
(and all of the plants in the surrounding area at the same time).

____________________________________________________________________________
Step 2: What happened after these dinosaurs died that caused them to become fossils?
Be detailed and include several steps.

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Learning Performance 3: Students will use a model of rock strata to explain the relationship
between the position of the fossil and its relative age.

7. Put the layers of rock strata in order from oldest to youngest.

____________________________________________________________________________
8. Compare the relative ages of any fossil in layer F to any fossil in layer B and explain your
answer.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________