Grade 3-5 Teacher Resources

Modern owl pellet found at Tule Springs Fossil Beds.

NPS photo | Lauren Parry

Standards-Based Lesson Plans for Educators

Our teacher resources have been evaluated to meet the Nevada State Academic Content Standards for Science, which are based on the national Next Generation Science Standards. Download our teacher resources for traditional and homeschool classroom use.

Ice Age Investigation

• Objective:

1. Students will understand that the fossils from Tule Springs teach us about life in Las Vegas during the Ice Age.
2. Students will understand that many Ice Age animals are similar to animals that still live today.

• Standards:
  • NGSS 3-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.
  • Common Core CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• Teachers may use images and artwork from:
  • The Prehistoric Life of Tule Springs series
  • Supplemental materials: Pleistocene animal jaws & teeth

Pleistocene Food Scene

• Objective:Students will model the flow of energy through Pleistocene food chains.
• Standards:
  • NGSS 5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
  • NGSS 5-PS3-1: Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food (used for body repair, growth, and motion and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.
• Teachers may use this downloadable card sort and instruct students to model a food web using Pleistocene species.

Owl Pellets from the Past

• Objective:The students will develop an understanding of animal identification through bones and bone fragments found in their owl pellets and how they are connected to fossils found at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument.
• Standards:
  • 3-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data from fossils to provide evidence of the organisms and the environments in which they lived long ago.
  • 4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
  • MS-LS4-1: Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past.
  • 5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment