MS-LS4-1 - Performance Expectation

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.

Middle School · Next Generation Science Standards · NGSS Lead States 2013

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Vocabulary
datapatternsfossil recordexistencediversityextinctionchange of life formshistory of life on Earthnatural laws
Skills
  • analyze (data from fossil records) #dok2
  • interpret (patterns in the fossil record) #dok2
  • identify (evidence of existence, diversity, extinction, and change in life forms) #dok1
  • draw conclusions (about the history of life using patterns in data) #dok3
  • infer (operation of natural laws in the past based on evidence) #dok3
Learning Targets
  • I can identify evidence of the existence, diversity, extinction, and change in life forms in the fossil record. #dok1
  • I can analyze data from fossil records to recognize patterns in life forms over Earth's history. #dok2
  • I can interpret patterns in the fossil record to describe changes in life forms. #dok2
  • I can draw conclusions about the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms using fossil evidence. #dok3
  • I can infer how natural laws operated in the past by examining patterns in the fossil record. #dok3
Big Ideas
  • The fossil record provides observable patterns that document the rise, diversity, extinction, and change in Earth’s life forms over time.
  • Natural laws that operate today also governed the processes that shaped Earth's biological history.
Essential Questions
  • How does the fossil record reveal patterns of existence, diversity, extinction, and change in life forms on Earth?
  • What can patterns in the fossil record tell us about the history of life on Earth?
  • How do scientists use evidence from fossils to infer the operation of natural laws in the past?
  • Why is it important to assume that natural laws operate today as they did in the past?
  • How do changes in life forms in the fossil record reflect environmental or ecological changes on Earth?