Georgia S6E5.g
The Standard
Construct an argument using maps and data collected to support a claim of how fossils show evidence of the changing surface and climate of the Earth.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Science · Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to show how Earth's surface is formed.
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students use fossil locations, ages, and environmental clues on maps to infer past landscapes and climates. They make a claim and support it with mapped evidence and scientific reasoning.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a map and data table, students explain why inland marine fossils suggest an area was once underwater. They cite at least two data points and connect each one to their claim.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think fossils show current habitats, climate never changes, or inland marine fossils arrived there recently. They may list evidence without explaining its meaning or confuse climate with daily weather.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A map shows 100-million-year-old shark teeth at two inland Georgia sites. Write a claim, one piece of evidence, and reasoning about past conditions.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Place fossil cards on a floor map, then have teams draw a past shoreline and label the fossil evidence supporting it.
Ask, “How could marine fossils occur far from today’s ocean?” Students write a claim, cite two map details, and explain both.
Run an evidence relay where teams match fossil and climate cards to claims, then reject one irrelevant data card.
Compare a Georgia fossil map with the modern coastline, then create a museum caption explaining how the region changed.
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Construct an argument evaluating contributions to the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
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- S3E2
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Construct an argument from observations of fossils (authentic or reproductions) to communicate how they serve as evidence of past organisms and the environments...
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