Science · Year 6

Active learning ideas

Fossils as Evidence of Past Life

Active learning makes abstract concepts like fossil formation and interpretation tangible for Year 6 students. By handling materials and working through simulations, students connect slow geological processes to the evidence they see in rocks and museums. This hands-on approach builds lasting understanding beyond what textbooks alone can offer.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS2: Science - Evolution and inheritance

• 40–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Experiential Learning
• 40 min · Pairs

Hands-On Fossil Making: Plaster Casts

Give pairs soft clay and natural objects like shells or leaves. Students press objects into clay to form moulds, pour plaster of Paris over them, and wait for drying. They then carefully excavate casts and discuss similarities to real fossils.

Explain how fossils are formed and what they tell us about living things from the past.

Facilitation Tip

During the plaster casts activity, circulate with pre-made models to show students how fossils can look different from the original organism, reinforcing the idea that casts preserve shape but not the original material.

What to look for

Provide students with images of three different fossils. Ask them to write one sentence for each, identifying the type of fossil (mold, cast, imprint) and one piece of information it reveals about past life.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Experiential Learning
• 45 min · Small Groups

Fossil Dig Simulation: Excavation Challenge

Bury replica fossils and small artefacts in sand-filled trays or boxes. Small groups use brushes, trowels, and sieves to excavate slowly, sketch findings, and note positions. Groups present discoveries to the class.

Describe how a fossil can provide clues about an animal's diet or environment millions of years ago.

Facilitation Tip

For the excavation challenge, assign roles so every student participates, such as recorder, digger, and photographer, to ensure accountability and varied engagement.

What to look for

Present students with a diagram showing several layers of rock (strata) with different fossils in each. Ask: 'Which fossil is the oldest? How do you know?' and 'What might the environment have been like when the fossil in the top layer was alive?'

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Stations Rotation
• 40 min · Small Groups

Stations Rotation: Fossil Clues Stations

Prepare stations for diet analysis (teeth/jaws), environment clues (rock types), formation models (layered sediments), and timelines. Groups rotate every 10 minutes, recording inferences on worksheets before sharing.

Discuss how the discovery of new fossils can change our understanding of past life.

Facilitation Tip

At the fossil clues stations, provide magnifying lenses and rulers, and set a two-minute timer per station to keep the rotation moving while ensuring focused observations.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine a new fossil is discovered that contradicts what scientists previously believed about a dinosaur's appearance. How should scientists react to this new evidence?' Facilitate a discussion on the scientific process of revising understanding based on new data.

• Remember
• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Experiential Learning
• 50 min · Whole Class

Whole Class Timeline: Life Through Time

Display fossil images or replicas chronologically. Students add cards with habitat or diet notes to a large timeline mural, debating placements based on evidence. Conclude with a class vote on key changes.

Explain how fossils are formed and what they tell us about living things from the past.

Facilitation Tip

During the timeline activity, use string or paper strips to physically represent time spans so students grasp the relative scale of eras and periods.

What to look for

Provide students with images of three different fossils. Ask them to write one sentence for each, identifying the type of fossil (mold, cast, imprint) and one piece of information it reveals about past life.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should emphasize process over product, guiding students to ask how and why fossils form rather than just memorizing names. Avoid rushing through the slow processes; use timelapse videos of sediment settling to illustrate how layers build over time. Research shows that students grasp deep time better when they manipulate models that compress millions of years into seconds, such as building layered sediment jars they can observe over weeks.

By the end of these activities, students will confidently explain how fossils form and what they reveal about past environments. They will analyze fossil clues to infer diets, climates, and evolutionary changes, and justify their thinking with evidence from their models and digs. Group discussions will show they can revise ideas when presented with contradictory fossil data.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Hands-On Fossil Making: Plaster Casts, watch for students who assume the plaster replica is the actual organism turned to stone.

  During the plaster casts activity, ask students to compare their cast to the original shell or leaf they used. Have them note that the plaster preserves the shape but not the original material, and introduce the term 'mineral replacement' as a way fossils form without the original bone or shell remaining.

• During Station Rotation: Fossil Clues Stations, watch for students who assume ancient animals looked identical to modern ones.

  During the fossil clues stations, provide replica trilobites and ammonites alongside modern examples like horseshoe crabs or nautilus shells. Ask students to compare structures such as eyes, shells, or legs, and record differences in a Venn diagram to highlight evolutionary changes.

• During Fossil Dig Simulation: Excavation Challenge, watch for students who believe fossils form quickly, such as within a few years.

  During the excavation challenge, have students build their dig site in layers, adding a new sediment layer each day for a week. Label each layer with the approximate time span it represents, so they see how layers accumulate over millions of years rather than days.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Experiential Learning
• Stations Rotation