Found 9 resources for the concept:
Scientists can test ideas about events and processes long past, very distant, and not directly observable.
Benjamin Franklin: STEM Activity Toolkit
Grade Level(s):
- 3-5
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- PBS and WETA
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Physical Sciences
Time: 1-6 hours
Overview
Ken Burns’s four-hour documentary, Benjamin Franklin, explores the revolutionary life of one of the 18th century’s most consequential figures. This STEM Activity Toolkit frames the context of the film series, and provides guidance for viewers to engage in discussions and activities around science, technology, engineering, and math.
Bill Berry and the construction of geologic time
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 5 minutes
Overview
This Science Short describes how index fossils can help us test hypotheses about long past events that we cannot directly observe. Get tips on using Science Stories in class.
Dino-Data
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
Time: 3-4 class periods
Overview
Students examine data about dinosaurs and hypothesize about what the data can tell them. Students modify their hypotheses as more information is revealed and review what they have learned about how science works.
Galaxy classification
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- Whitfield, Lisé
Resource type:
- lab activity
Discipline:
- Space science
Time: One class period
Overview
This is a modified version of Galactic Inquiry in which students learn about galaxy classification while also experiencing a simple simulation of peer review and community analysis.
Introducing the Understanding Science Flowchart to middle school students
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 1-2 class periods
Overview
Students read a story about Walter Alvarez and then plot his scientific journey on the Understanding Science Flowchart. Students find that science is seldom a linear story.
Scientific Process: The mysteries of life with Tim and Moby
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- BrainPOP
Resource type:
- Science Story
- video
Discipline:
- Earth science
- Life Science
Time: 10 minutes
Overview
How does science work? This animated video introduces key ideas using the story of the how science uncovered the link between the dinosaur extinction and a massive asteroid impact. (Note that this video inaccurately characterizes the difference between hypotheses and theories. See Understanding Science 101 for a correction.)
The great fossil find
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- ENSI
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: one class period
Overview
Students are taken on an imaginary fossil hunt and form hypotheses about the identity of the creature they discover. Students revise their hypotheses as new evidence is found.
This is not the shrimp you’re looking for
Grade Level(s):
- 6-8
- 9-12
- College
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- Science Story
Discipline:
- Earth science
Time: 5 minutes
Overview
This Science Short illustrates how paleontologists have reinterpreted fossil evidence to gain new understanding of life in the Cambrian seas. Get tips on using Science Stories in class.
Xenosmilus
Grade Level(s):
- 3-5
- 6-8
- 9-12
Source:
- UC Museum of Paleontology
Resource type:
- classroom activity
Discipline:
- Life Science
Time: One class period
Overview
In this lesson, students play the roles of paleontologists on a dig. They "unearth" a few fossils at a time and attempt to reconstruct the animal the fossils represent.
