Mississippi Science E.3.7A

E.3.7A is a cluster heading. These are the individual standards under it.

• E.3.7A.1

  Plan and conduct controlled scientific investigations to identify the processes involved in forming the three major types of rock, and investigate common techni...

• E.3.7A.2

  Develop and use models to demonstrate the processes involved in the development of various rock formations, including superposition, and how those formations ca...

• E.3.7A.3

  Ask questions to generate testable hypotheses regarding the formation and location of fossil types, including their presence in some sedimentary rock.

01

What Students Need to Do

Students test how pressure packs sediment and use models to show how cooling, heat, and pressure form different rocks. They identify rock samples by their grains, layers, and crystals. They model how rock layers form and shift, then predict where fossils might be found.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

A student identifies sandstone by its grains and granite by its crystals. They explain that marble forms when limestone changes under heat and pressure. They find the oldest layer in an undisturbed stack and trace that layer across a shifted crack.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think all rocks form when lava cools, or that pressing sand makes real sandstone. They may think a crack changes which layer is oldest. Some expect fossils in every rock, including rock heated enough to destroy remains.

04

How to Assess It

Show three colored sediment layers shifted along a crack, with a shell fossil in the bottom layer on one side. Ask students to mark the oldest layer and predict where to search for another shell fossil.

1. 01

   Layer equal amounts of sand and gravel in two clear cups, add equal water, press one, then tilt both to compare layer movement.

2. 02

   Show a shell fossil in sandstone and ask, 'Would you search sandstone or granite for another? How could you check?'

3. 03

   Set out granite, sandstone, and marble samples; pairs use hand lenses and clue cards to sort them by how each formed.

4. 04

   Show a photo of a cracked roadcut; have students trace one rock layer across the break and mark where it shifted.

• E.8.7.2

  Create a model of the processes involved in the rock cycle and relate it to the fossil record.

• E.8.7

  Students will demonstrate an understanding of geological evidence to analyze patterns in Earth’s major events, processes, and evolution in history.

• E.3.7B

  Students will demonstrate an understanding of the composition of Earth and the processes which change Earth's landforms.

• FB.5

  Students will demonstrate an understanding of Earth’s fossil record and its indication of the diversity of life over time.