The Fossil Forecast

About this resource

In 1999, fossil hunters began searching bare, frozen rocks in the Canadian Arctic for one thing: a fish that was starting to look like a four-legged animal. In 2004, they found it. How did they know where — and in which rocks — to look? Fossils in rock layers are a time-ordered record of life — and its patterns are strong enough to predict where to dig. In this one-week, 5-level Fossil Record Patterns unit for middle school science (NGSS MS-LS4-1), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.

The Fossil Forecast is part of Science Unlocked, a series of mystery-driven lesson sets. Every set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students solving the mystery in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.

Topics: fossils, evidence of evolution, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

What's included

• Teacher Deck (88 slides, PowerPoint). Answers are highlighted on the slides. Speaker notes tell you what to say and do, what to watch for, and how to support students or push GT students further. Prep slides and answer keys are hidden, so they skip during a slideshow.
• Interactive Student Deck (56 slides, PowerPoint + PDF). Students type in boxes, drag cards and check marks, and rate their confidence. Assign one copy per student in Google Classroom or your LMS.
• Google Slides versions of both decks. Click a button in the Google Slides Links PDF to make your own copy in Google Drive.
• Teacher Guide (26-page PDF). The standard, a week at a glance, a materials list, misconceptions to watch for, a run-of-show for every level, answer keys and sources.
• Student Printable (19-page PDF + a low-ink greyscale copy). The same tasks on paper in 12 pt type, for students without devices, sub days, or anyone who learns better with a pencil. Slide numbers match the Student Deck.
• Self-grading digital activity. SCORM 2004 and SCORM 1.2 packages for an LMS that accepts SCORM uploads, a web package, and a single HTML file that opens in any browser. Notes, sorts, matches, tables and multiple-choice items grade themselves, and students get a copy-and-paste backup of their work. A 2-page teacher quick start is included.
• Two whole-class review games that open in any browser: a Jeopardy-style game (6 categories, 30 clues) and Trashketball, where teams answer on whiteboards and then shoot for points.
• Kahoot! and Blooket import files. 48 review questions, one file per level plus an all-levels file, with a printable answer key.
• Start Here guide, HTML & SCORM how-to guide and Terms of Use, so you know which file to open first.

The 5 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)

1. Clues in Stone. What fossils are, how they form, the fossil record. Key activities: Arctic mystery, Fossil or Not? sort.
2. Reading the Layers. Chronological order, simple leads to complex, dating layers. Key activities: Rock column, first-appearance range chart.
3. Dig Cup Lab. Natural laws then and now, collect and analyze fossil data. Key activities: Dig Cup Lab, range-chart data table, Lab Conclusion.
4. Gone and Changed. Extinction, diversity, change over time. Key activities: Big Five data table, horse data, evidence sort.
5. Crack the Case. Stretch HS-LS4-1: lines of evidence agree, the case file. Key activities: Two Witnesses Stretch, Crack the Case CER.

Built for real classrooms

• Every level follows the same routine: "I can" targets with a confidence check, a warm-up, copy-it notes with a word bank, hands-on practice, a checkpoint students must pass to unlock the next step, and an exit ticket. A 10-item Mini Quiz wraps up the week.
• Level 1 opens with a Power-Up on the earlier-grade ideas this standard builds on (3-LS4-1, 4-ESS1-1).
• The last level includes a high school Stretch (HS-LS4-1) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
• Hands-on lab (Dig Cup Lab: The Investigation). Student materials list: 1 dig cup (5 layers of sand with pasta “fossils”); Plastic spoon, soft paintbrush; 5 paper plates labeled Layer 1–5; Tray, paper towels; Goggles. Safety notes are on the slides and in the Teacher Guide.
• Support is built in: word banks, sentence starters and support notes on the slides, plus GT extensions.

Standards

• NGSS MS-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. (Kentucky 8-LS4-1 uses the same wording.)
• SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data · DCI: LS4.A · CCC: Patterns
• Stretch: HS-LS4-1
• CCSS connections: 6.EE.B.6, RST.6-8.1, RST.6-8.7

Try the digital activity first

• Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.

Save with a bundle

• Evidence of Evolution (3 sets)
• Middle School Life Science (21 sets)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)

Teach next

• The Whale’s Hidden Hand (MS-LS4-2)
• Hidden Family Ties (MS-LS4-3)

More from Mystery Lab Learning

• See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.

Good to know

• The illustrations in this resource were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in the Teacher Guide and proofread.
• Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
• License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.