Essential Standard: 8.E.2: Understand the history of Earth and its life forms based on evidence of change recorded in fossil records and landforms.
Essential Understandings: We can determine Earth's history by looking at fossils and rock layers.
Essential Question: How can we study the history of Earth?
Essential Understandings: We can determine Earth's history by looking at fossils and rock layers.
Essential Question: How can we study the history of Earth?
8.E.2.1: Infer the age of Earth and relative age of rocks and fossils from index fossils and ordering of rock layers (relative dating and radioactive dating)
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
Essential Question:
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
- fossils provide important evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed.
- the geologic time scale is a record of the major events and diversity of life forms present in Earth's history
- the formation process of mold, cast, petrified, preserved, carbonized, and trace fossils
- there are different types of fossils based on how they were formed
- a fossil is the preserved remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past
- various models, diagrams, and pictures can be used to illustrate the vastness of time involved in geologic time and to show the diversity of life evident across geologic time.
- millions of fossils have been collected and studied
- the relative age means the age of one object compared to the age of another object
- geologists use radiometric dating to estimate how long ago rocks formed, and to infer the ages of fossils contained within those rocks.
Essential Question:
- How is the age of rocks, fossils, and Earth determined?
8.E.2.2: Explain the use of fossils, ice cores, composition of sedimentary rocks, faults and igneous rock formations found in rock layers as evidence of the history of the Earth and its changing life forms.
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
Essential Question:
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
- a variety of artifacts are used to determine the geological history of the Earth, as well as how its life forms have changed over time
- a fault is a break in the rocks that make up the Earth's crust that is formed due to the movement of rock on either side of the fault.
Essential Question:
- How does the evidence support that Earth itself and life on it has changed over time?
Essential Standard: 8.L.4: Understand the evolution of organisms and landforms based on evidence, theories and processes that impact the Earth over time.
Essential Understanding
Essential Questions:
Essential Understanding
- Both living and nonliving things have changed over time (evolved)
Essential Questions:
- How has the structure of Earth changed over time?
- How have living things changed over time?
8.L.4.1: Summarize the use of evidence drawn from geology, fossils and comparative anatomy to form the basis for biological classification systems and the theory of evolution.
Essential Understanding.
Essential Question:
Essential Understanding.
- Evidence from geology, fossils and comparative anatomy formed the basis for biological classification systems and the theory of Evolution.
Essential Question:
- How does scientific evidence support the theory of evolution?
8.L.4.2: Explain the relationship between genetic variation and an organism's ability to adapt to its environment.
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
Essential Question:
Essential Understandings: Students will understand that
- genetic variation occurs randomly.
- genetic variations can help a species adapt to a changing environment.
- Some genetic variations are helpful and some are harmful
Essential Question:
- How does genetic variation relate to an organism's survival in a changing environment?