Worksheet

Long-Ago Clues Behind the Backyard Bench

Investigate fossils in a backyard rock ledge to describe ancient organisms, compare environments, and support claims with evidence.

Grade 3ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to3-LS4-1

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What’s included

Single worksheet
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1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 3
Subject: Science
Question types: Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use fossil features to describe plants and animals that lived long ago.
Students compare fossil evidence to infer how an environment changed over time.
Students distinguish claims supported by fossil evidence from claims that need more evidence.

How to use

Read the passage together and keep it available while students work. Have students point to notebook evidence before explaining their final claim.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

3-LS4-1

Use fossils to describe living things and environments from long ago.

Preview

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Name Date

Long-Ago Clues Behind the Backyard Bench

Use fossil evidence to uncover a backyard's past.

Explore the Rock Ledge

Read the passage. Use the notebook and guide to answer the questions.

A Backyard with a Hidden Past

Behind Nia's backyard bench, a rock ledge sticks out of the ground. Nia notices shapes in the rock. An adult fossil scientist visits and helps her study them. They take photographs without breaking or digging into the ledge. Fossils are remains or traces of living things from long ago. A shell, a leaf print, or a trail of footprints can become a fossil.

The scientist shows Nia a guide. Sea clams have two hard shell halves. Their living relatives live in salty ocean water. Corals are animals, and the living relatives of these fossil corals also live in ocean water. The guide's pond snails have coiled shells and live in fresh water. Its pond plants grow in fresh water. Ferns have leaves with patterns of veins. Their leaves can sometimes wash into nearby water.

Nia makes a notebook record:
Lower layer A: Fossils match the guide's sea clam shells and corals. No fish fossils were found.
Upper layer B: Fossils match the guide's pond snail shells, pond plants, and fern leaves. A row of small fossil footprints also crosses the rock.

The scientist explains that layer A formed before layer B. The layers formed long before the backyard existed. The footprints show separate steps, but they do not have enough detail to identify the animal. The notebook does not record the organisms' original colors or the exact ages of the fossils.

Which description of a long-ago animal is best supported by the clam fossils?

A. It had a soft body with no shell.
B. It had leaves with branching veins.
C. It had a hard shell made of two halves.
D. It had a single shell shaped like a coil.

What environment is best supported by the fossils in layer A?

A. A place covered by salty ocean water
B. A pond filled with fresh water
C. A dry area covered with sand
D. A grassy yard with a garden bench

Select the TWO pieces of evidence that best support an ocean environment for layer A.

The clam fossils match animals with ocean-living relatives.A bench stands near the rock ledge today.The coral fossils match animals with ocean-living relatives.The footprints are too unclear to identify the animal.

Nia found no fish fossils in layer A. Which statement is most careful?

A. No fish lived in that long-ago ocean.
B. Every fish must have lived in layer B.
C. The clam fossils are really fish fossils.
D. Fish may have lived there, but none were found.

Compare the Fossil Records

Look back at both layers. Choose claims that fit the evidence, and do not claim more than the fossils show.

Which environment best fits the pond snail and pond plant fossils in layer B?

A. A salty ocean with corals
B. A freshwater pond with plants
C. A dry hillside without water
D. A backyard lawn without a pond

Which order of events best fits the layer order and the fossils?

A. A freshwater pond came first, then an ocean environment.
B. The backyard came first, then both ancient water environments.
C. Both layers formed together in the present backyard.
D. An ocean environment came first, then a freshwater pond.

Match each fossil clue to the description it supports.

A fern leaf print with a vein pattern
A pond snail's coiled shell fossil
A row of separate fossil footprints

A. An animal moved by taking steps.
B. A plant had leaves with veins.
C. An animal had a shell that curled around.

Which claim about the footprints stays within the evidence?

A. An animal was there, but its kind is not known.
B. A pond snail made the separate footsteps.
C. The animal had the same color as the rock.
D. The animal was the largest one living there.

Nia says, “The fern leaf proves that the whole area was dry land when layer B formed.” What is the best correction?

A. Fern leaves prove that ocean water covered layer B.
B. The pond plant fossils came from dry land too.
C. The leaf may have been carried into the pond.
D. A leaf fossil gives no evidence that a plant existed.

Build a Careful Explanation

Use the fossil record to judge claims and explain the backyard's past.

10.

Sort each claim by whether Nia's notebook supports it.

Some animals living long ago had shells.The pond snails had bright yellow shells.Plants were part of the environment when layer B formed.Each fossil's exact age is known.