This article describes a discovery of moss and ostracod fossils that led to a better understanding of Antarctica's climate history.

This article describes common misconceptions held by elementary students about the history of the polar regions, fossils, and geologic time. The article provides ideas for formative assessment, teaching strategies, and the National Science Education Standards.

This lab activity is a paper fossil dig where students discover skeletal characteristics of humans, primates and hominids and are asked to make a short oral presentation to the class.

This expository article for elementary students describes the dinosaurs that lived in polar regions as well as the adaptations that helped them survive in the dark and cold environment. Modified versions for younger grades are available.

This article provides science content knowledge about forces that shape the Earth's surface: erosion by wind, water, and ice, volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics and how these forces affect Earth's polar regions.

Earth Science SOL ES.9 states that students should interpret the history of the Earth from fossils. In theory this is easy, but may take years to be proficient at identifying index fossils and getting their geologic age. I have created an app that allows students to measure fossils,  get their identity down to the genus level and their geologic age, in under 5 minutes! The app also can calculate the surface are of the shells. 

In the engage section of the 5Elesson, students are introduced to the role of fossils as evidence of evolution and evolutionary relationships by watching a videos about the discovery of Lucy and Ardi and consider what type of information that they can gain from skull fossils. Students will then explore features of skulls from human ancestors and the modern day Homo sapien. After measuring skull to cheekbone ratios, students will create a graph to compare various species. Several interactives are provided to explain fossils, skeletal evidence for human evolution, and phylogenetic trees. Then, students will apply their skills of analyzing data about anatomical similarities and genetic information to depict evolutionary relationships between organisms using cladograms. To evaluate student understanding, students will complete an evolutionary relationships CER.

This activity is a field investigation where students gather data on fossiliferous limestone, develop an experimental question, and develop a mental model of local geologic history.

This article provides links to web sites about geologic time, fossils, and the archaeology and culture of the Arctic for elementary teachers.

In this science/history-based unit, students learn about the history of the earth by studying fossils and dinosaurs. In the first part of the unit, students learn about how fossils are formed and how paleontologists study fossils in order to learn about ancient history. In the second part of the unit, students study what makes dinosaurs unique and fascinating creatures by learning about various species of dinosaurs and how they adapted in order to meet their basic needs for survival. Students will also be challenged to think about what earth was like at the time of the dinosaurs and how learning about dinosaurs helps them better understand the earth's history. In the last part of the unit, students read a collection of fiction texts, each with a unique perspective on what happened to the dinosaurs and if dinosaurs really are extinct. In this part of the unit, students should be pushed to use what they have learned from the informational texts in order to confirm or deny the statements the author makes in the fiction texts.

In reading, this unit exposes students to both informational and fiction texts. When reading informational texts, students will focus on explaining the connection between two or more pieces of information in a text, particularly in regard to retelling how fossils are formed or how scientists uncover fossils. Students will also be pushed to describe the relationship between the illustrations and the text in which they appear, specifically describing what new or additional information they learn from reading the illustrations. Additionally, students will continue to practice determining the main topic of a text and asking and answering questions about unknown words. When reading fiction texts, students will focus on retelling the story and making connections between the story and the facts they've learned from the informational texts.

In writing, students will continue to write daily in response to the text. Written responses should focus on including an inference or critical thinking that shows understanding of the text and/or question and on using more words than pictures to communicate the answer to a question. This unit also includes two longer writing assignments: one research writing assignment and one narrative writing assignment.

This activity provides an excellent example of an active debate within the scientific community regarding a relatively recent human fossil find, Homo floresiensis. The activity highlights the ways in which scientists can interpret scientific evidence in different ways, how scientists build arguments to support their claims, and how assumptions can influence interpretation. Students watch part of a NOVA program on the fossil find, and take notes on the evidence discussed. They then discuss in small groups and then as a large group which argument they consider more convincing and why.

This activity is an observational activity where students observe differnt fossils and predict what they are seeing and how old it might be.

The videos in Virtual Virginia provide a general overview of Relative and Absolute Geologic Time. this lesson plan is intended to give students data to analyze and interpret to reconstruct the geologic history or rocks in Virginia for the Early to Middle Paleozoic. For more information contact: Dr. William Schmachtenberg, email: william.schmachtenberg@frco.k12.va.us

In this activity students will use methods of collecting data, other than visual, to determine the contents of a small sealed box. They will make connections between this procedure and the procedures scientists use to study evolutionary theory. This activity has been specifically adapted to align with the high school biology standards to explore the limitations of studying the fossil record in a hands-on way.

This activity is a field investigation where students will increase their knowledge of SE MN geology including rock layers, fossils, and Karst topography. They will also learn how Karst Geology impacts our water quality.

This lesson uses the fundamentals of protein synthesis as a context for investigating the closest living relative to Tyrannosaurus rex and evaluating whether or not paleontologist and dinosaur expert, Jack Horner, will be able to "create" live dinosaurs in the lab. The first objective is for students to be able to access and properly utilize the NIH's protein sequence database to perform a BLAST, using biochemical evidence to determine T rex's closest living relative. The second objective is for students to be able to explain and evaluate Jack Horner's plans for creating live dinosaurs in the lab. The main prerequisite for the lesson is a basic understanding of protein synthesis, or the flow of information in the cell from DNA to RNA during transcription and then from RNA to protein during translation

Learning about Antarctica's past can give K-Grade 5 teachers and students lessons in geology, climate, and ecology along with literacy experiences in sequencing and time lines. The author identifies online resources for both adults and younger learners. A three-section unit plan begins with sequencing events and follows with earth's history over billions of years and the records found in rocks and fossils. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears.

This issue of the free online magazine, Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears, explore how to use fossils and artifacts (scientific clues) to learn about the polar regions' past. Targeted literacy skills include making inferences, and using context clues to define new vocabulary.

This article assembles free resources from the Learning from the Polar Past issue of the Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears cyberzine into a unit outline based on the 5E learning cycle framework. Outlines are provided for Grades K-2 and 3-5.