Crocs, then and now
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/08/g68/
crocsthennow.html
A lesson plan for Grades 8–12 Earth/Environmental Science
About this resource
- Appropriate grades
- 8–12
- Subjects
- science (biology and life science, environmental science)
- Provider
- National Geographic
Legal
This catalog record is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. This license applies to the content of this page only and does not apply to the referenced website.
This Xpeditions lesson has students investigate the geographical distributions, habitats, and other features of modern crocodilians and the so-called SuperCroc (Sarcosuchus imperator). Students will consider the things they can learn about one species by studying the other. They will create Venn diagrams to compare and contrast one modern species with SuperCroc. They will conclude by writing paragraphs describing this comparison and explaining how each species helps us learn about the other.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 8
- Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Communicate findings.
- Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
- Describe strengths and weaknesses of claims, arguments, and/or data.
- Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
- Research.
- Gather and analyze data.
- Visualize data.
- Disseminate findings to others.
- Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
- Scientific text.
- Articles.
- Events in the popular press.
- Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
- Goal 5: The learner will conduct investigations and utilize appropriate technologies and information systems to build an understanding of evidence of evolution in organisms and landforms.
- Objective 5.01: Interpret ways in which rocks, fossils, and ice cores record Earth's geologic history and the evolution of life including:
- Geologic Time Scale.
- Index Fossils.
- Law of Superposition.
- Unconformity.
- Evidence for climate change.
- Extinction of species.
- Catastrophic events.
- Objective 5.02: Correlate evolutionary theories and processes:
- Biological.
- Geological.
- Technological.
- Objective 5.03: Examine evidence that the geologic evolution has had significant global impact including:
- Distribution of living things.
- Major geological events.
- Mechanical and chemical weathering.
- Objective 5.01: Interpret ways in which rocks, fossils, and ice cores record Earth's geologic history and the evolution of life including:
Grades 9–12 — Earth/Environmental Science
- Goal 3: The learner will build an understanding of the origin and evolution of the earth system.
- Objective 3.01: Assess evidence to interpret the order and impact of events in the geologic past:
- Relative and absolute dating techniques.
- Statistical models of radioactive decay.
- Fossil evidence of past life.
- Uniformitarianism.
- Stratigraphic principles.
- Divisions of Geologic Time
- Origin of the earth system.
- Origin of life.
- Objective 3.01: Assess evidence to interpret the order and impact of events in the geologic past:
