What the Rock Remembers is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on using fossils as evidence of past organisms and environments, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 3-LS4-1. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
LessonPrint · 3-LS4-1 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What the Rock Remembers
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Fossil footprints in dried mud — B (An animal walked across soft ground here) 2. Mammoth bones in gravel — D (The climate here was once much colder) 3. Pollen grains preserved in peat — A (Which plants grew nearby at that time) 4. Fish fossils high in a mountain — C (The rock formed underwater and was later lifted)
2.1. No land animal bones in a sea layer — D (Evidence that this was not dry land) 2. Fern fronds and tree trunks fossilized — A (This place was once a warm wet forest) 3. Ammonites and sea urchins in one layer — C (This place was once under the sea) 4. Coral fossils in rock on a hillside — B (A warm shallow sea covered this land)
Questions about What the Rock Remembers
What does the What the Rock Remembers worksheet cover?
It practices using fossils as evidence of past organisms and environments — 2 questions for Grade 3, all on NGSS 3-LS4-1: Use fossils as evidence of what lived where, long ago. The instruction to students is “Draw a line from each find to what it shows”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which NGSS performance expectation does What the Rock Remembers practice?
3-LS4-1, under Life Science for Grade 3. The published performance expectation reads: “Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
What the Rock Remembers is written for Grade 3, typically ages 8-9. It is one of the sheets on 3-LS4-1, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does What the Rock Remembers come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of What the Rock Remembers can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is What the Rock Remembers free to print and photocopy?
Yes. What the Rock Remembers, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Is there a lesson plan to teach 3-LS4-1?
Yes — “What the Rock Remembers” is a 55-minute Grade 3 plan for 3-LS4-1, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. What the Rock Remembers is the practice that follows it.
More practice for 3-LS4-1
Use fossils as evidence of what lived where, long ago.
Teaching this next? What the Rock Remembers is the 55-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.