Central Idea: Geological resources give us clues to the past and help us determine our future.
Sixth-grade students expressed what they learned during this unit in various and creative ways. Gavin replicated how fossils are formed by creating his own replica of a trilobite. Ben created a video on Scratch to demonstrate how tectonic plates create mountains. Delaney created a poster with illustrations that explained how igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks are formed and consequently how they are affected by weathering. Brooklyn worked on creating a poster that showed how layers of the earth can shift over time. Caira’s poster demonstrated several things, including the three types of weathering (chemical, biological, and physical). Dorthia created a poster to demonstrate her understanding of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks, as well as a poster to share how she learned to identify sassafras leaves. Charlie created a diagram that illustrated how a tyrannosaurus rex fossil was created after being smashed by sedimentary layers for millions of years.
*Students also worked together to demonstrate an understanding of how index fossils can be used to determine the relative age and order of layers on the geologic time scale.