SCIENCE – Grade 3 Monday, May 4 – Friday, May 8

PURPOSE

3-LS4-4 (New Material) I can analyze fossils to gather data and find evidence of organisms and the environments that they lived in long ago.

WATCH

Monday - Real World Connection – Observe the Photo Gallery & Museum of Natural History page. Tuesday - National Geographic: Fossil in Amber video & Fossils for Kids Wednesday - Meet the Paleontologists Optional: Study Jams slideshow - Fossils

PRACTICE

Monday – After viewing the real world connection, record what you notice and wonder about the photographs. What questions do you have? Read the article “Learning from Dinosaur Fossils.” Tuesday – Watch the National Geographic video. Think about your questions from Monday. Did this video help answer any questions that you have about the amber? Watch Fossils for Kids. What type of fossil is the bug found in the amber? How do you know? Wednesday – Think about how paleontologists analyze fossils. What can they learn from fossils? Watch Meet the Paleontologists.

DISCUSS

Monday – What do you wonder about the photo gallery? What can you learn from the photographs? Why do you think fossils are important? What are some questions you have about the photo gallery? Wednesday – What can paleontologists learn from fossils? Explain. Thursday - Review any of the previous videos or articles about fossils. Have any of your questions been answered from the Real World connection on Monday?

PRODUCT

Thursday - Complete a 3-2-1 writing form to connect your learning from the week.

Friday – After studying fossils this week, think about the Real World connection photographs from Monday and the fossilized leaf. Question: Based on what you have studied about fossils; how do scientists analyze fossils to learn about life long ago? Use the C-E-R writing strategy form. (C – Make a claim/answer the question; E – Explain your answer with evidence from articles, videos, photographs, etc.; R – Reason to connect your claim and evidence. Screen-Free Activities

Screen-Free Activities

Creative Writing:

Be a Paleontologist - Imagine you are a paleontologist on a dig in search of fossils. Write a journal entry about your day. Include details about the environment where you are working, the tools you are using, and the fossils you unearth.

Key Vocabulary Review

Dinosaur Dig!

Materials: Chocolate chip cookie, toothpick.

Paleontologists are scientists who study the history of life on Earth through the fossil record. Fossils are the evidence of past life on the planet and can include those formed from animal bodies or their imprints (body fossils). Paleontologists have to be very careful when handling fossils. Imagine you are a paleontologist on a dinosaur dig. Complete the activity:

Dinosaur Dig Question: How will you remove the chips without harming them?

Hypothesis: What do you think will happen if you use your strategy?

Try It Out! Explain what you did & draw a picture.

Observations: Did your strategy work? What changes would you make?

Conclusion: What did you discover about the job of a paleontologist?

Choose a key word from this week.

Key Words: fossils, paleontologist, dinosaurs

Complete a graphic organizer about the word you chose.