9.3.1.3 Geologic Time
Use relative dating techniques to explain how the structures of the Earth and life on Earth have changed over short and long periods of time.
Cite evidence from the rock record for changes in the composition of the global atmosphere as life evolved on Earth.
For example: Banded iron formations as found in Minnesota's Iron Range.
Overview
MN Standard in Lay Terms
The geologic history of the earth can be interpreted through the study of rock sequences, structure, and the fossils contained in them. Chemical changes in rock composition can trace the evolution of life on earth.
Big Idea
Earth Science Literacy: The Big Ideas and Supporting Concepts of Earth Science.:
9.3.1.3.1
1.5 Earth scientists use their understanding of the past to forecast Earth's future.
2.1 Earth's rocks and other materials provide a record of its history.
4.1 Earth's geosphere changes through geological, hydrological, physical, chemical, and biological processes that are explained by universal laws.
6.1 Fossils are the preserved evidence of ancient life.
9.3.1.3.2
1.6 Earth scientists construct models of Earth and its processes that best explain the available geological evidence.
3.7 Changes in part of one system can cause new changes to that system or to other systems, often in surprising and complex ways.
6.8 Life changes the physical and chemical properties of Earth's geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere.
MN Standard Benchmarks
9.3.1.3.1 Use relative dating techniques to explain how the structures of the Earth and life on Earth have changed over short and long periods of time.
9.3.1.3.2 Cite evidence from the rock record for changes in the composition of the global atmosphere as life evolved on Earth.
The Essentials
NSES Standards:
National Science Education Standards (1996)
(9.3.1.3.1)
Content Standard D
Geologic time can be estimated by observing rock sequences and using fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations. .... page 189
(9.3.1.3.2)
Content Standard C
Species evolve over time. Evolution is the consequence of the interactions of (1) the potential for a species to increase its numbers, (2) the genetic variability of offspring due to mutation and recombination of genes, (3) a finite supply of the resources required for life, and (4) the ensuring selection by the environment of those offspring better able to survive and leave offspring.
The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life forms.
Natural selection and its evolutionary consequences provide a scientific explanation for the fossil record of ancient life forms, as well as for the striking molecular similarities observed among the diverse species of living organisms.
The millions of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live on earth today are related by descent from common ancestors. page 185
Content Standard D
Interactions among the solid earth, the oceans, the atmosphere, and organisms have resulted in the ongoing evolution of the earth system. We can observe some changes such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on a human time scale, but many processes such as mountain building and plate movements take place over hundreds of millions of years. pages 189-190
Evidence for one-celled forms of life-the bacteria-extends back more than 3.5 billion years. The evolution of life caused dramatic changes in the composition of the earth's atmosphere, which did not originally contain oxygen. page 190
AAAS Atlas:
Volume 1
Cluster: Evolution of Life
Maps:
Biological Evolution (BE) pp 80-81
Natural Selection (NS) pp 82-83
Volume 2
Cluster: Historical Perspectives
Moving the Continents (10DE) pp78-79
Explaining Evolution (10H) pp 84-85
Benchmarks of Science Literacy
(9.3.1.3.1)
Thousands of layers of sedimentary rock confirm the long history of the changing surface of the earth and the changing life forms whose remains are found in successive layers. The youngest layers are not always found on top, because of folding, breaking, and uplift of layers. 4C/M5
In the early 1800s, Charles Lyell argued in Principles of Geology that the earth was vastly older than most people believed. He supported his claim with a wealth of observations of the patterns of rock layers in mountains and the locations of various kinds of fossils. 10D/H2
(9.3.1.3.2)
Prior to the 1700s, many considered the earth to be just a few thousand years old. By the 1800s, scientists were starting to realize that the earth was much older even though they could not determine its exact age. 10D/H1
In the early 1800s, Charles Lyell argued in Principles of Geology that the earth was vastly older than most people believed. He supported his claim with a wealth of observations of the patterns of rock layers in mountains and the locations of various kinds of fossils. 10D/H2
In formulating and presenting his theory of biological evolution, British naturalist Charles Darwin adopted Lyell's claims about the age of the earth and his assumption that the processes that occurred in the past are the same as the processes that occur today. 10D/H3
NAEP
National Assessment of Educational Progress Frameworks (2009)
(9.3.1.3.1)
E12.4: Early methods of determining geologic time, such as the use of index fossils and stratigraphic sequences, allowed for the relative dating of geological events. However, absolute dating was impossible until the discovery that certain radioactive isotopes in rocks have known decay rates, making it possible to determine how many years ago a given rock sample formed.
9.3.1.3.2)
E8.3: Fossils provide important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed in a given location.
E8.4: Earth processes seen today, such as erosion and mountain building, make it possible to measure geologic time through methods such as observing rock sequences and using fossils to correlate the sequences at various locations.
L8.8: All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organisms or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial.
E12.6: Early Earth was very different from today's planet. Evidence for one-celled forms of life (bacteria) extends back more than 3.5 billion years. The evolution of life caused dramatic changes in the composition of Earth's atmosphere, which did not originally contain molecular oxygen.
Common Core Standards
The Common Core State Standards Initiative online
Math. Many of the activities involve the Standards for Mathematical Practice:
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
4. Model with mathematics.
5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
6. Attend to precision.
7. Look for and make use of structure.
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
English Language Arts: Assigned reading and written reports should be guided by the Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects Standards.
Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6-12.
Key Ideas and Details:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
Craft and Structure:
4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.*
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity:
10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12.
Text Types and Purposes:*
1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Research to Build and Present Knowledge:
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Range of Writing:
10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Misconceptions
Students will have difficulty with the concept of geologic time, especially the concept of deep time. They will see terms such as ancient and relate that to historical ancient time, e.g. ancient Rome or Greece.
Students of all ages may hold the view that the world was always as it is now, or that any changes that have occurred must have been sudden and comprehensive. Also, if an ancient ocean once covered Minnesota, the water simply covered the landscape that we see today.
Fossils can form in all rocks types.
USGS Education. (2011). Schoolyard geology.
Fossils are pieces of dead animals and plants.
The Earth is 6-20 thousand years old.
Vignette
Fossils
The vignette from NSES Life Science Content Standard C: Fossils (pp 182-183).
The investigation in this example centers on the use of fossils to develop concepts about variation of characteristics in a population, evolution-including indicators of past environments and changes in those environments, the role of climate in biological adaptation, and use of geological data. High-school students generally exhibit interest in fossils and what the fossils indicate about organisms and their habitats. Fossils can be purchased from scientific supply houses, as well as collected locally in some places. In the investigation described here, the students conduct an inquiry to answer an apparently simple question: Do two slightly different fossils represent an evolutionary trend? In doing the activity, students rely on prior knowledge from life science. They use mathematical knowledge and skill. The focus of the discussion is to explain organized data.
The investigation begins with a task that students originally perceive as easy-describing the characteristics of two brachiopods to see if change has occurred. The student inquiries begin when the teacher, Mr. D., gives each student two similar but slightly different fossils and asks the students if they think an evolutionary trend can be discerned. The openness and ambiguity of the question results in mixed responses. Mr. D. asks for a justification of each answer and gently challenges the students' responses by posing questions such as: "How do you know? How could you support your answer? What evidence would you need? What if these fossils were from the same rock formation? How do you know that the differences are not normal variations in this species? What if the two fossils were from rock formations deposited 10 millions years apart? Can you tell if evolution has or has not occurred by examining only two samples?"
Mr. D. shows students two trays, each with about 100 carefully selected fossil brachiopods. He asks the students to describe the fossils. After they have had time to examine the fossils, he hears descriptions such as "They look like butterflies," and "They are kind of triangular with a big middle section and ribs." Then he asks if there are any differences between the fossils in the two trays. The students quickly conclude that they cannot really tell any differences based on the general description, so Mr. D. asks how they could tell if the fossil populations were different. From the ensuing discussion, students determine that quantitative description of specific characteristics, such as length, width, and number of ribs are most helpful.
Mr. D. places the students in groups of four and presents them with two trays of brachiopods. They are told to measure, record, and graph some characteristics of the brachiopod populations. The students decide what they want to measure and how to do it. They work for a class period measuring and entering their data on length and width of the brachiopods in the populations in a computer database. When all data are entered, summarized, and graphed, the class results resemble those displayed in the figure.
The students begin examining the graphs showing frequency distribution of the length and width of fossils. As the figure indicates, the results for either dimension show a continuous variation for the two populations. Students observe that regardless of the dimension measured, the mean for the two populations differs.
After the graphs are drawn, Mr. D. asks the students to explain the differences in the populations. The students suggest several general explanations: evolution has not occurred-these are simply different kinds of brachiopods; evolution has occurred-the differences in the means for length and width demonstrate evolutionary change in the populations; evolution has not occurred-the differences are a result of normal variations in the populations.
Mr. D. takes time to provide some background information that the students should consider. He notes that evolution occurs in populations, and changes in a population's environment result in selection for those organisms best fit for the new environment. He continues with a few questions that again challenge the students' thinking: Did the geological evidence indicate the environment changed? How can you be sure that the fossils were not from different environments and deposited within a scale of time that would not explain the degree of evolutionary change? Why would natural selection for differences in length and width of brachiopods occur? What differences in structure and function are represented in the length and width of brachiopods?
The students must use the evidence from their investigations and other reviews of scientific literature to develop scientific explanations for the aforementioned general explanations. They take the next class period to complete this assignment.
After a day's work by the students on background research and preparation, Mr. D. holds a small conference at which the students' papers are presented and discussed. He focuses students on their ability to ask skeptical questions, evaluate the use of evidence, assess the understanding of geological and biological concepts, and review aspects of scientific inquiries. During the discussions, students are directed to address the following questions: What evidence would you look for that might indicate these brachiopods were the same or different species? What constitutes the same or different species? Were the rocks in which the fossils were deposited formed at the same or different times? How similar or different were the environments of deposition of the rocks? What is the effect of sample size on reliability of conclusions?
Resources
Suggested Labs and Activities
9.3.1.3.1
Relative Dating - Telling Time Using Fossils:
In this activity, students will use fossil range charts to help them understand the concept of relative dating. (9.3.1.3.1)
WHO'S ON FIRST?: A RELATIVE DATING ACTIVITY:
In this activity, students begin a sequencing activity with familiar items - letters written on cards. Once they are able to manipulate the cards into the correct sequence, they are asked to do a similar sequencing activity using fossil pictures printed on "rock layer" cards. Sequencing the rock layers will show students how paleontologists use fossils to give relative dates to rock strata. (9.3.1.3.1)
Lewis, S.E., Lampe, K.A., & Lloyd, A.J. (2005). Once in a million years: Teaching geologic time. American Institute of Biological Sciences.
Provides a variety of ways to help students conceptualize the idea of "billions" of years so that they may better understand the true magnitude of geologic time. Could also be used as a resource for students conducting research about geologic time. (9.3.1.3.1)
9.3.1.3.2
UCAR. (n.d.). Activity 10: Paleoclimates and pollen.
This activity is suitable for helping students learn how lake sediments containing pollen may be used to investigate past climates on earth. The activity is designed for grades 7-9, but could be adapted for older students. Also contains ideas for modifying for alternative learners. (9.3.1.3.2)
Kinder, C. (2011). Earth's changing atmosphere. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.
This resource provides background information for teachers and students regarding the origin and evolution of the earth's atmosphere. It includes some lesson plan ideas for studying the gases present in the atmosphere. (9.3.1.3.2)
Riebeek, H. (2005). Paleoclimatology: Written in the Earth. Earth Observatory.
The site may serve as a resource for explaining to both teachers and students about how speleothems (cave formations of calcite) may be used to understand climate and climate change on the Earth. Also includes links to other paleoclimatology resources. (9.3.1.3.2)
Instructional suggestions/options
Consider using the vignette as a way to engage students in the topics for this standard. For understanding "relative dating" and benchmark 9.3.1.3.1, consider using the activity Who's on first. To help students learn about how the rock record may be used to understand climate change (benchmark 9.3.1.3.2), consider having students read or research about speleothems and working through the hands-on activity Paleoclimates and pollen.
Additional resources
Once in a Million Years: Teaching Geologic Time
This article outlines pedagogical approaches to teaching geologic time and describes common student preconceptions and misconceptions. Several activities will assist students in conceptual change. (9.3.1.3.2)
"Visualizing huge numbers can be very difficult. People regularly talk about millions of miles, billions of bytes, or trillions of dollars, yet it's still hard to grasp just how much a "billion" really is. The MegaPenny Project aims to help by taking one small everyday item, the U.S. penny, and building on that to answer the question: "What would a billion (or a trillion) pennies look like?"
From Minnesota Geological Survey: obtain copies of Minnesota at a Glance:
Geologic Time
Precambrian Geology
Ancient tropical seas - Paleozoic history of Southeastern Minnesota
Fossil Collecting in the Twin Cities Area
Earth Revealed - Found at Science, teacher resources.
A video instructional series on geology for college and high school classrooms and adult learners; 26 half-hour video programs and coordinated books. This is an Annenberg Learner programs online resource, produced in 1992, covering multiple topics. Several segments deal with plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, geologic time.
10. Geologic Time
To illustrate the immensity of geologic time, the entire span of earth's existence is compressed down to a year. The timeline of major geologic events is superimposed onto the year for a condensed view of earth's evolution. A relationship between this timeline and that of life on earth is established, with fossils and radiocarbon dating playing a major role in the discovery.
11. Evolution Through Time
The fossil record reveals much about the diversity and development of species. This program examines the traces left by early plants, animals, and single-celled organisms and follows the progression of life forms over time. Connections are drawn between atmospheric gases, climate change, rock formation, biological functions, and mass extinctions.
Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners. It contains media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities.
Three and a half billion years ago, earth's atmosphere contained almost no free oxygen. Instead, it consisted mainly of carbon dioxide, perhaps as much as 100 times more carbon dioxide than contained in today's atmosphere. During this time, earth's only life forms were aquatic, one-celled organisms -- primitive forms of bacteria -- that extracted energy from a variety of sources. To most of these organisms, free oxygen was poisonous. (Running time 1 min 39 sec.)
Explores the earth, planets of our solar system, and the universe. It includes images, animations, and data sets, and information about books, movies, scientists, and myths. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration.) Located on National Earth Science Teacher's website.
A brief discussion of the evolution of life and the origin of the banded iron ore deposits.
Geologic Time: The Story of a Changing Earth
Examines the history of Earth: the formation of Earth, dating the age of rocks, geologic time, plate tectonics, climate change, ocean circulation, evolution, extinction, ecology, and topics related to paleobiology. (National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution.)
Divisions of Geologic Time-Major Chronostratigraphic and Geochronologic Units
Provides a pdf print of the current geologic time scale used by the U.S. Geological Survey.
National Park Service - NPS Geologic Resources web site has links to many of the National Parks and geological significant areas. Student and teacher resources has curriculum packages for several of the parks.
Digital Library for Earth Systems Education (DLESE)
DLESE supports Earth system science education by providing:
Access to high-quality collections of educational resources
Access to Earth data sets and imagery, including the tools and interfaces that enable their effective use in educational settings
Support services to help educators and learners effectively create, use, and share educational resources
Communication networks to facilitate interactions and collaborations across all dimensions of Earth system education.
Vocabulary/Glossary
Absolute age: The numeric age of a layer of rocks or fossils. Absolute age can be determined using radiometric dating.
Eon: The largest division of time in the Geologic Time Scale, e.g., Phanerozoic.
Era: The second largest division of time in the Geologic Time Scale, e.g., Mesozoic.
Epoch: A division of geologic time next shorter than a period, e.g. the Pleistocene epoch is in the Quaternary period.
Fauna: The animals of a given region or period.
Flora: The plants of a given region or period.
Fossil: The remnant, or trace, of an ancient living organism that has been preserved in rock or sediment.
Fossil Record: All of the fossils that have existed throughout earth's history, whether they are in the ground or are in a museum.
Geologic Time: The length of time covering the age of the earth, now established as around 4.6 billion years. Also known as Deep Time.
Geologic Time Scale: A vertical timeline representing events in earth's history. The Geologic Time Scale is divided into blocks of time that represent great changes in earth's biodiversity.
Index Fossil: Fossils that have wide geographical dispersion and a short, well-known time of existence.
Period: The third largest division of time in the Geologic Time Scale, e.g., Cretaceous.
Principle/Law of cross-cutting relationships: A feature that cuts across another is younger than that which it cuts.
Principle/Law of fossil succession: In a stratigraphic sequence, different species of fossil organisms appear in a definite order; once a fossil species disappears in a sequence of strata, it never reappears higher in the sequence.
Principle/Law of Original Horizontality: Sedimentary rocks are deposited relatively horizontally because they settle out of fluid in a gravitational field; folds and tilted beds indicate deformation that postdates deposition.
Principle/Law of Superposition: Younger sedimentary rocks overlie older rocks because a layer of sediment cannot accumulate unless there is already a substrate on which it can collect.
Principle/Law of Uniformitarianism: The principle that the laws of nature are constant. As originally used, it meant that the processes operating to change the earth in the present also operated in the past and at the same rate and intensity and produced changes similar to those we see today. The meaning has evolved and today the principle of uniformitarianism acknowledges that past processes, even if the same as today, may have operated at different rates and with different intensities than those of the present. The term "actualism" is sometimes used to designate this later meaning.
Radiometric dating: A method of determining absolute age based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates.
Relative age: The age of a rock layer, or the fossils it contains, compared to other layers.
Unconformity: A break in the geologic record created when rock layers are eroded or when sediment is not deposited for a long period of time.
Portable carbon dioxide sensors: Though expensive, these devices would be useful for allowing students to examine carbon dioxide emissions in human breath, car exhaust, and more. Available from both PASCO Scientific and CO2 Meter.
MN Math Benchmarks
Calculate measurements of plane and solid geometric figures; know that physical measurements depend on the choice of a unit and that they are approximations.
9.3.1.3 Understand that quantities associated with physical measurements must be assigned units; apply such units correctly in expressions, equations and problem solutions that involve measurements; and convert between measurement systems.
9.3.1.5 Make reasonable estimates and judgments about the accuracy of values resulting from calculations involving measurements.
Explain the uses of data and statistical thinking to draw inferences, make predictions and justify conclusions.
9.4.2.1 Evaluate reports based on data published in the media by identifying the source of the data, the design of the study, and the way the data are analyzed and displayed. Show how graphs and data can be distorted to support different points of view. Know how to use spreadsheet tables and graphs or graphing technology to recognize and analyze distortions in data displays.
9.4.2.2 Identify and explain misleading uses of data; recognize when arguments based on data confuse correlation and causation.
9.4.2.3 Explain the impact of sampling methods, bias and the phrasing of questions asked during data collection.
MN Life Science Benchmarks
(9.3.1.3.1, 9.3.1.3.2)
9.4.3.3.1 Describe how evidence led Darwin to develop the theory of natural selection and common descent to explain evolution.
9.4.3.3.2 Use scientific evidence, including the fossil record, homologous structures, and genetic and/or biochemical similarities, to show evolutionary relationships among species.
Assessment
Assessment of Students
In order to be considered an index fossil, a fossil must:
a. be of an organism that existed over a long period of geologic time.
b. be found only in a small geographic area.
c. be distinct, abundant, widespread, and exist for a short period of geologic time.
d. show orderly evolutionary changes over time.
Differentiate between absolute and relative age.
Absolute age is the numeric age of an object. Relative age is the age of an object in relation to the age of other objects.
Which of these is the best indication of the relative age of a rock layer?
a. The thickness of the layer.
b. The distance of the layer extends over the earth.
c. The position of the layer compared to other layers.
d. The chemical make-up of the layer.
New York Regents Earth Science exams from previous years are available online.
(PDF files of NY Regents Earth Science exams 1941 - 2010.)
Assessment of Teachers
Describe a situation by which an index fossil can be used in determining an absolute age for a rock formation.
A common example is the absolute dating of a rock formation by radiometric means (volcanic ash, lava flow, etc.) that contains index fossils. That age can then be used for any rocks that contain that particular index fossil.
It has been said that the banded iron formations are evidence of one of the first great extinctions. Explain.
As cyanobacterica spread, they produced oxygen waste. This oxygen combined with dissolved iron which precipitated out as iron oxide forming the banded iron formation. This waste oxygen was toxic to anaerobic organisms causing the shift to predominately aerobic life forms.
Differentiation
"Science for All: Including Each Student" appendix in: NSTA Pathways to the Science Standards.
A major theme in the National Science Education Standards is that science is for all students, and that all students should have the opportunity to attain high levels of scientific literacy. The appendix elaborates on this theme and offers teachers some practical suggestions for engaging a diverse student body in high-quality science education, specifically girls, minorities, or students with disabilities, who traditionally receive unequal attention in the science classroom.
Improving Reading Skills in Science
Texts in science challenge students with technical vocabulary, detailed concepts and relationships, and multi-step processes and cycles. Learn effective strategies for helping students with each of these issues.
Most textbook companies have supplemental materials with a textbook adoption that address teaching science to ELL learners.
Have textbooks that cover the same material that are at a lower reading level available for reference use by students.
Lee, O., & Buxton, C.A. (2010, April). NSTA Report: Teaching science to English language learners.
Earth Science does not have an AP course. Several of the web sites listed have higher level activities and projects listed.
Teachers First is a website that helps develop a classroom environment that addresses the needs of the gifted learner.
Gifted and Talented Math and Science is a part of the EDinformatics web site that offers activities for the gifted and talented student.
Teaching Secondary School Science, Trowbridge, Bybee, and Powell. Chapter 19, Individual Differences in Science Classroom.
Merrill Education's Link to Science Education Resources:
Many textbook companies have inclusion strategies in the teacher's edition or in the supplemental material. Have students use Cornell note system. In their notebooks, copy and define key terms that appear in bold type in their reading.
Use study partners and groups in class monitoring that all students are participating.
Have textbooks that cover the same material that are at a lower reading level available for reference use by students.
Students with disabilities. Official NSTA Position Statement
Teaching Secondary School Science, Trowbridge, Bybee, and Powell. Chapter 19, Individual Differences in Science Classroom.
Merrill Education's Link to Science Education Resources: Topic 5 - Science Education and Special Needs
Parents/Admin
Administrators
An administrator might see students examining brachiopod fossils (or images of them), and being guided through inquiry analysis by addressing the question: do the differences between the fossils represent an evolutionary trend? An administrator might also see students working on a hands-on investigation about how pollen from sediment samples may be used to understand climate of the past.
At the beginning of a unit, send a note home explaining the unit and how the parents can help their student. For example: be aware of news stories, possible connections to vacation trips etc.
National Science Resources Center. (2011). Parent resources. Smithsonian Institution
Science.gov (2011). Science education: Resources for kids, parents, and teachers