Year 6 - Science
How living things have changed over time
Evolution and inheritance
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores how living things have changed over time, using fossils as evidence of past life. It covers how offspring vary from parents and how adaptation leads to evolution. Emphasis is on planning scientific enquiries, recording data, and evaluating scientific evidence.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to use fossil evidence to describe how living things have changed over time.
Key Notes
- The layers at the bottom of sedimentary rock are the oldest and the layers at the top are the newest
- By looking at different layers of rock, geologists can learn about what was happening on Earth at different times
- Where a fossil is found can tell us about which animals or plants lived in each time period in the history of our Earth
- Fossils of the simplest organisms are found in the oldest rocks, and more complex organisms in the newest rocks
- Models can be used to represent different layers of fossils in rock over time
Vocabulary To Learn
- sedimentary rock: Sedimentary rock is formed when sediment collects at the bottom of a lake or sea.
- geologist: A geologist is a scientist who studies what Earth is made of.
- evidence: Evidence is information which helps us to prove that something is true or not true.
- fossil: A fossil is the remains or imprint of living things that are sometimes preserved in rock.
- model: A model is used to describe something that can't be experienced directly.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils may think that all prehistoric living things were on Earth at the same time, rather than understanding that life on Earth changed over millions of years.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
The layers at the bottom of sedimentary rock are the oldest and the layers at the top are the newest. By looking at different layers of rock, geologists can learn about what was happening on Earth at different times.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'sedimentary rock'
Sedimentary rock is formed when sediment collects at the bottom of a lake or sea. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils may think that all prehistoric living things were on Earth at the same time, rather than understanding that life on Earth changed over millions of years. Correction: Use the models and information in the lesson to explain that the different layers of rock beneath our feet were formed at different times, and there are fossils of different living things buried within each.
More Lessons In This Unit
- Animal adaptations Study Guide
- Charles Darwin and finches Study Guide
- Evolution: evidence Study Guide
- Evolution: presentation Study Guide
- Family trees (non-statutory) Study Guide
- Human skulls: using evidence from the past (non-statutory) Study Guide
- Inherited characteristics Study Guide
- More about plant adaptations Study Guide
- Offspring: similar but not identical Study Guide
- Plant adaptations Study Guide
- The survival of the fittest Study Guide
- What fossils can tell us about the past Study Guide
- Where fossils are found (non-statutory) Study Guide
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