GENERAL INFORMATION

Lesson Title & Subject(s): Sweet Superposition

Topic or Unit of Study: Geologic Time & Relative Dating
Grade/Level: 9-12
Instructional Setting:
This class consists of 18 students. Desks are laid out in five rows of five desks and the back of the room
contains six lab tables in a semi-circle. Each lab table seats four students. The front of the room has two
white boards and a projection screen. The teachers desk and sink sit between the students desks and
the white boards. On the teachers desk is the school-issued laptop and a document projecting camera.
Students are able to view PowerPoints, videos, or other media the teacher may have via the projection
unit attached to the ceiling.
Students will begin the class in their desk for a whole-class discussion/review of the Law of
Superposition. Once the discussion is complete, students will break into lab groups of four to complete
the Sweet Superposition activity. Students will complete their worksheets as a group, but will complete
the final formative assessment individually.

STANDARDS AND OBJECTIVES

Your State Core Curriculum/Student Achievement Standard(s):
SC.11.1.18. Origin and Evolution of the Earth System: Investigate geologic time through comparing
rock sequences, the fossil record, and decay rates of radioactive isotopes.

Lesson Objective(s):
Given a superposition manipulative, students will be able to organize fossils by their relative ages
using the Law of Superposition and Law of Cross-Cutting Relationships with 100% accuracy.
When presented with a cross-sectional diagram, students will use the following geologic principles:
unconformities, the law of original horizontality, the law of superposition, and the law of cross-cutting
relationships to correctly identify the relative ages of rock layers with 85% accuracy.

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials:
Included worksheets, superposition pans (one for each lab table), pebbles/small stones, sand, soil,
hard individually-wrapped candies (optional substitutes include small figurines, fossil reproductions,
coins, beans, glass beads, etc.), Determining Relative Age worksheet, Superposition Quiz

Resources:
Fournier, A. (2014). Sweet Superposition! -. Cpalms.org. Retrieved 2 December 2016, from
http://www.cpalms.org/Public/PreviewResourceLesson/Preview/72026

INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN

Sequence of Instructional Procedures/Activities/Events (provide description and

indicate approximate time for each):
1. Student Prerequisite Skills/Connections to Previous Learning:
Students should be familiar with the three categories of rocks (igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic). They should also identify that sedimentary rocks form in layers. Students should
also recognize what a fossil is and know that paleontologists use them in order to determine
relative ages of rock layers around the world.

2. Presentation Procedures for New Information or Modeling: (5-10 minutes)

Pose the following discussions to the class
1) What is a scenario in your life where it would be important to know the exact date or
time that certain events happened? (i.e. the class bell schedule, their favorite television
shows, holidays, test dates, etc.)
2) When would it be more helpful to only know the order in which events happened? (i.e.
recipes, turn-by-turn directions)
3) How can we tell the age of a fossil? (relative dating by using superposition as well as
radiometric dating)

3. Guided Practice: (20-25 minutes)

Before class, set up superposition trays filled with pebbles, sand, and soil as shown below:

Bury candy/replica fossils/figurines throughout the various layers for students to excavate. Be
sure to distribute items across the stratified layers so that each tray has at least one example
of fossils coming from the same layer and fossils coming from earlier/later layers. Be sure to
review lab safety procedures with students. Students should wear eye protection at all times
while participating in the inquiry lab. As students are excavating, they will record their
observations/findings on their worksheets.
Ask students to look at their fossils and hypothesize which is the oldest. Why? Which fossil do
they hypothesize as being the youngest? Why? Leave their answers open-ended until near
the end of the lesson. Are there any fossils that you think might be approximately the same
age? How can you tell?
Remind students that the Law of Superposition states that in any undisturbed sequence of rock
deposited in layers, the youngest layer in on top and the oldest rock is on the bottom. Rocks
are older than the layers above them and younger than the layers below them. Which layer
would be oldest if several layers of rock have a layer disrupting them, such as an igneous

intrusion? How might it be possible to find a fossil embedded in a layer of rock that is not
relatively the same age of the rock?

4. Independent Student Practice: (10-15 minutes)

Students will apply their knowledge of the Law of Superposition as they complete the
Determining Relative Age worksheet. As students work on their worksheet, the instructor
should work their way to each group and make sure that each student is correctly identifying
the relative ages of the fossils dependent on the depth shown on the worksheet. Be sure to
address any misconceptions students may have when working with disrupted layers (i.e. just
because they dig a deep hole does not mean that the bottom layer is the oldest or that the top
layer is the youngest).

5. Culminating or Closing Procedure/Activity/Event: (5 minutes)

After reviewing the answers to the Determining Relative Age worksheet, review the Law of
Superposition with the students. Reiterate that in an UNDISTURBED outcropping, the oldest
layers of rock will always be on the bottom and the youngest layers on the top. Remind
students that any rock layer that bisects another layer, such as an igneous intrusion, must be
younger than the layers it has disrupted.

Instructional Strategy (or Strategies):

Direct instruction will be utilized during the introductory portion of class. However, cooperative
learning groups will be formed during the activity segment, followed by individual work for the
completion of the cumulative assessment.

Differentiated Instruction Accommodations:

For high achieving students, it might be beneficial to replace the multiple choice quiz as a
summative assessment in favor of a more independent activity. For example, have the students
recreate a cliff face with exposed stratified rock. Tell them to draw fossils into multiple layers and
include a legend. Then have them create a "quiz" that asks at least 5 questions addressing the
relative ages of various fossils in their pictures with respect to each other (essentially, creating
their own unique version of the worksheet).
ELL students should be grouped into heterozygous labs, preferably with their Think-Pair-Share
partner. Invite ELL students to make use of the word wall if they encounter vocabulary terms they
are unfamiliar with.
The classroom speaker system will be utilized for students with hearing-related difficulties in
addition to providing written instructions for each step of the activity.

Use of Technology:
While no direct technology is utilized during the main body of this particular lesson, the cumulative
assessment could be administered either on paper or through online interaction via smart
phone/tablet (i.e. Kahoot!)

Student Assessment/Rubrics:
Once students have completed their Independent Practice worksheet and the class has reviewed the
answers for clarification, students will be given an informal assessment through a short multiple
choice mini-quiz to evaluate their mastery of the Law of Superposition. The results of this quiz should be
reviewed by the teacher to ensure mastery of the Law of Superposition.

Sweet Superposition!
In todays lab, you will be a paleontologist at the site of a new dig. Your objective is to carefully
unearth fossils, documenting their location within your dig site to ensure accurate data collection.
Use the table below to record your findings:
Shallow

Deep
Be sure to sketch the location and type of fossil in the table above.

Discussion Questions: With your group, discuss the following questions. Write your answers
below and be prepared to share your answer with the class.
1. Looking at your fossils, which fossil would you hypothesize is oldest? Why?

2. Which fossil do you hypothesize is youngest? Why?

3. Are there any fossils that you infer to be around the same age? How can you tell?

Superposition Quiz
1. The Law of Superposition states that layers of undisturbed rock are organized by their age, with
the ___________ layers on top and ______________ layers below.
a. Oldest, younger
b. Youngest, older
c. Darkest, lighter
d. Lightest, denser
A
2. Look at the picture to the right. Which layer is
oldest?
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. D

3. Look at the picture to the right. Place the layers

in order from oldest to youngest.
a. D, C, B, A, E
b. A, B, C, D, E
c. D, C, B, E, A
d. D, C, E, B, A

B
C
D

A
B

C
D

4. Place the fossil skulls in order from youngest to oldest.

a. W, X, Z, Y
b. Y, Z, X, W
c. X, W Y, Z
d. Z, Y, X, W

5. If artifact 6 is 600 years old, how closely can we

approximate the date of artifact 7?
a. They are similar in age because they are in the
same layer
b. Artifact 7 is slightly younger because the layer
above is more shallow
c. Artifact 7 is slightly older because its buried
deeper
d. Artifact 6 is older because the artifact is darker
https://www.utexas.edu/courses/denbow/labs/lab1-strat2.htm

Answer Key:
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. A

Explanation: Older layers are covered up as new layers are created, placing the oldest at
the bottom and youngest at the top.
Explanation: The Law of Superposition tells us that the oldest layers will be found on the
bottom of a cross-section of Earth.
Explanation: Layer E bisects B, C, and D which means they all had to be created before
E bisected them. A covers everything making it the newest.
Explanation: Although the skulls are laying at various depths with respect to each other,
students need to focus on the layer in which they are buried.
Explanation: Artifacts 6 and 7 are part of the same layer, so they should be roughly the
same age.

Name: _______________________________________________________

Date: _____________

Determining Relative Age

Using what we have learned in class about the Law of Superposition, the Principle of Original
Horizontality, unconformities, and crosscutting relationships, determine the ages of the rock layers in the
following diagrams. You are asked to list them in age from oldest at the bottom to youngest at the top.

Oldest:

____________
____________
____________
____________
Youngest: ____________

Oldest:

____________
____________
____________
____________
Youngest: ____________

Oldest:

_____________
____________
____________
____________
Youngest: ____________

Oldest:

_____________
____________
____________
____________
Youngest: ____________

Oldest:

____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
Youngest: ____________

Oldest:

____________
____________
____________
____________

Extra Credit: List the letters in order from oldest to youngest on the lines below