Dinosaurs and fossils story unit · KS1 (Reception to Year 2)
The Glowing Fossil
Learning objective: Describe what a fossil is and name some dinosaurs that ate plants or meat.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Fossil Bay
Talk questions
- What clues helped our hero find Fern’s herd?
- How do we know about dinosaurs if no one has ever seen one?
Writing task
Draw Fern and her herd. Write one sentence: 'Fern is a herbivore, so she eats ___.'
Word bank
- fossil
- the remains of a living thing, kept in rock for a very long time
- extinct
- no longer alive anywhere
- herbivore
- an animal that eats only plants
- carnivore
- an animal that eats meat
- palaeontologist
- a scientist who studies fossils
Success criteria (adventure story)
Reception to Year 2: I can write a beginning, a middle and an end. I can use describing words. I can use capital letters and full stops.
National Curriculum statements
- “predicting what might happen on the basis of what has been read so far” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher” (Year 2, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “sequencing sentences to form short narratives” (Year 1, Writing – composition (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The beach at Fossil Bay was full of stones. Grey stones, brown stones, round stones and flat stones.
But one stone was different. It had a curly pattern on it, like a snail shell, and when our hero picked it up, it began to glow.
“A fossil!” our hero whispered.
The glow grew brighter and brighter, and then, pop, a round window opened in the air. Through it, our hero could see tall ferns, a sparkling lake and a little green dinosaur with a long neck, looking lost.
Our hero stepped through the window. “Hello,” they said softly. “Are you all right?”
“I’m Fern,” said the dinosaur. “I can’t find my herd.”
Notes
Dinosaurs and fossils story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 6)
The Cliff’s Secret
Learning objective: Explain how fossils form and what they tell us about living things from millions of years ago.
Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Fossil Bay
Talk questions
- How did the palaeontologist work out what the fossil was?
- Why do you think it matters to report a fossil find to a museum?
Writing task
Write an explanation of how a fossil forms, step by step, using time words and the words cause and effect, with a labelled diagram.
Word bank
- fossil
- the remains of a living thing, kept in rock for a very long time
- extinct
- no longer alive anywhere
- palaeontologist
- a scientist who studies fossils
- herbivore
- an animal that eats only plants
- carnivore
- an animal that eats meat
Success criteria (explanation)
Years 3 and 4: I can open with what it is. I can use words that show cause. I can write in the present tense.
Years 5 and 6: I can explain cause and effect. I can use technical words and a glossary. I can use the passive where it helps.
National Curriculum statements
- “retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction” (Years 5 and 6, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
- “using a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs” (Years 5 and 6, Writing – composition (statutory))
- “in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]” (Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory))
- “describe in simple terms how fossils are formed when things that have lived are trapped within rock” (Year 3, Science (statutory))
- “recognise that living things have changed over time and that fossils provide information about living things that inhabited the Earth millions of years ago” (Year 6, Science (statutory))
Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)
The storm had blown itself out overnight, and in the morning the beach at Fossil Bay looked different. A slice of the cliff had slumped onto the sand, leaving a fresh grey face of rock.
“After a storm is the best time to look,” said Priya, crouching beside the fallen clay. She was a palaeontologist at the local museum, and she had a rucksack full of brushes, notebooks and bubble wrap. “The sea does the digging for us.”
Our hero walked slowly along the bottom of the cliff, keeping well back from the rock face as Priya had asked. Then something caught their eye: a row of dark, curved shapes in the stone, each one the size of a hand, like the knuckles of an enormous fist.
“Priya,” they called. “I think you should see this.”
Priya looked for a long time without saying anything. Then she took out her notebook. “Those are vertebrae,” she said quietly. “Part of a backbone. Something big lived here, a very long time ago.”
Notes
