Year 6 Science · Fossils and living things over time · Summary

Year 6 Science Fossils and living things over time: summary and key words

Part of the Year 6 Science fossils and living things over time chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page

Chapter summary

Skill	Method
What fossils are	The remains or trace of a living thing that lived long ago. Body fossils are parts; trace fossils are signs.
How they form	Remains are buried in sediment. Layers build up, rock forms, and minerals replace the hard parts.
Dating layers	In an undisturbed cliff the lower layers are older. Compare fossil ages by subtraction.
Change over time	Living things have changed over millions of years. Some groups are extinct, and others are still alive.
Evidence	Fossils can support or refute ideas. They rarely show soft parts, and the record has gaps.

I can say what a fossil is, and give a body fossil and a trace fossil
I can describe how a fossil forms, in order
I can use the order of layers and the ages of fossils to say which is older
I can explain that some groups are extinct, and living things have changed
I can say whether fossil evidence supports or refutes an idea, and what fossils cannot show

fossil: the remains or trace of a living thing that lived long ago, preserved in rock
body fossil: a part of a living thing, such as a bone or a shell, that has been preserved
trace fossil: a sign that a living thing was there, such as a footprint
sediment: tiny pieces of rock, sand and mud that settle in layers
sedimentary rock: rock formed when layers of sediment are pressed and cemented together
extinct: no living members of a group are left
extinction: when a group of living things has died out completely
evolution: the way that living things change over many generations and millions of years
evidence: information from observations or tests that can support or refute an idea
erosion: the wearing away of rock by wind, water or ice, which can expose fossils