Calvert Cliffs State Park, Maryland
Calvert Cliffs: Rock and Fossil Layers
Grades 4, 6-8
Calvert Cliffs in Maryland contain many important fossils that reveal the history of our state and the environmental changes it has undergone over time. In this lesson, we will analyze rock and fossil layers to explore how scientists use these clues to piece together Earth’s past.
Teacher's Guide and Related Standards
I can analyze rock and fossil layers to explore how scientists use these clues to piece together Earth’s past.
- How can fossils inform us about what Earth looked like in the past?
- How can scientists use rock layers to compare the ages of the rock layers and the fossils found within them?
Maryland by Air Clip
- What did Maryland and the Calvert Cliffs area look like in the past?
- Where are many fossils located in this area?
- How do scientists retrieve fossils and bone remains from a cliffside?
- Based on the skull, what animal species do the scientists think they retrieved?
Vocabulary
Supplemental Enrichment Activites
and Designing Solutions
Relative Dating - Ages of Rock Layers
Students should read the information and view the images to construct an explanation to address the following: How can we determine which rock layers are young and old if we view rock layers from a large mountain or cliffside?
Fossil Facts
Have students read the article. Form a class discussion to address the process of how fossils form.
Discuss how scientists study fossils in order to better understand the history of planet Earth.
Analyzing Fossils in Rock Layers
Analyze the rock layers and the fossils found within them to compare which fossils are the oldest and which are the newest. Students should then form a timeline to explain which organisms were the oldest and which are the newest.
Career Connections