MS-LS4-1 lessons
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. (One group, the whales, over 50 million years, not the whole history of life.)
The Next Generation Science Standards code MS-LS4-1 asks students to: “Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. (One group, the whales, over 50 million years, not the whole history of life.)” These Fieldbook lesson teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials, a printable teacher guide and a student sheet.
Natural Selection: How Living Things Change Over Time Grades 6–8 · partly supports this standard
- How do fossils show life has changed? 50–60 min
Teams build a rock column from printed fossil cards of early whales, from a four-legged land animal to a sea creature with tiny hind legs, and track the changes. Then they compare the bones in a human arm, a cat's leg, a whale's flipper, a bat's wing and a bird's wing, and explain what the shared pattern says about relationships.
NGSS is used as written in Alaska, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, so the code MS-LS4-1 matches there. Other states word and number their own versions: see curriculum alignment for your state's codes.
More NGSS standards for middle school
All standards we teach · Curriculum alignment by state and province
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