Florida SC.7.L.15.1

Science7th GradeDiversity and Evolution of Living Organisms

The Standard

Recognize that fossil evidence is consistent with the scientific theory of evolution that living things evolved from earlier species.

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students examine fossils from different rock layers and identify changes in body structures over time. They use those patterns as evidence that later organisms descended from earlier species.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can place fossils in a reasonable time sequence using rock layer age and structural features. They can explain how shared features and gradual changes support evolutionary relationships.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think fossils prove a straight-line progression toward modern organisms or that individual animals changed during their lives. They may also think gaps in the fossil record disprove evolution.
How to Assess It: Give students images of three related fossils from different rock layers. Ask them to order the fossils and cite two visible features that support their sequence.

Lesson moves

Arrange fossil cards from rock layers, then use clay to model how one body structure changes across the sequence.
Write a claim explaining how similarities between an ancient whale fossil and a modern whale support a relationship.
Play a fossil sequence challenge where teams order organism cards by layer age and structural changes, then defend each placement.
Compare images of Florida fossil horses with modern horses and explain how tooth and foot changes relate to changing habitats.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SC.7.L.15.1, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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