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Rocks and fossil clues: 3rd to 5th science

Rocks, fossils and erosion. A free 3rd to 5th lesson plan with a hook, practice that links to free activities, and an exit ticket. Copy it and make it yours.

Lesson plan

Goal

  • Students work toward: rocks, fossils and erosion.

Hook (5 min)

  • Ask the class: How did a seashell end up inside a rock, far from the sea?
  • Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.

Teach (15 min)

  • Say the big idea in one plain sentence: rocks and fossil clues.
  • Show one example, then one that is not an example, and ask how the two differ.
  • Have students tell a partner or a small group the idea in their own words.

Practise (20 min)

  • Choose one for the whole class or let groups pick:
  • Learn: Fossils and Rock Layers (https://peabody.kids/world/science/science-fossils-and-rock-layers)
  • Play: Dinosaur dig (https://peabody.kids/animals/dinosaurs/dig)
  • Read: A Pebble's Very Long Trip (https://peabody.kids/library/the-rock-cycle-a-pebbles-very-long-trip)
  • Make: Wash away a soil hill (https://peabody.kids/science-fair/projects/erosion-slope-soil)

Exit ticket (5 min)

  • On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about rocks and fossil clues, and one question I still have.
  • Sort the slips into: got it, nearly, not yet. Start tomorrow with the last pile.

Written by Peabody from its own skill pages. Free, no ads, no sign-in. Children can practise this on Peabody. More from teachers: teacher-shared resources.