What the Rock Remembers is a free printable Grade 3 science worksheet on using fossils as evidence of past organisms and environments, aligned to Common Core standard 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 pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 13 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
What the Rock Remembers
3-LS4-1
NameDate
Draw a line from each find to what it shows.
1.Draw a line from each one to its match.
Fossil footprints in dried mud
No land animal bones in a sea layer
Fish fossils high in a mountain
Pollen grains preserved in peat
A.Which plants grew nearby at that time
B.An animal walked across soft ground here
C.Evidence that this was not dry land
D.The rock formed underwater and was later lifted
2.Draw a line from each one to its match.
Mammoth bones in gravel
Coral fossils in rock on a hillside
Ammonites and sea urchins in one layer
Fern fronds and tree trunks fossilised
A.The climate here was once much colder
B.This place was once a warm wet forest
C.A warm shallow sea covered this land
D.This place was once under the sea
LessonPrint · 3-LS4-1 · Set 13 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — What the Rock Remembers
Set 13. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Fossil footprints in dried mud — B (An animal walked across soft ground here) 2. No land animal bones in a sea layer — C (Evidence that this was not dry land) 3. Fish fossils high in a mountain — D (The rock formed underwater and was later lifted) 4. Pollen grains preserved in peat — A (Which plants grew nearby at that time)
2.1. Mammoth bones in gravel — A (The climate here was once much colder) 2. Coral fossils in rock on a hillside — C (A warm shallow sea covered this land) 3. Ammonites and sea urchins in one layer — D (This place was once under the sea) 4. Fern fronds and tree trunks fossilised — B (This place was once a warm wet forest)
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.