Taking the Temperature of Ancient Oceans

Students will learn that ocean temperature changes affect the composition foram shells (e.g. fossils), and that scientists measure those changes to infer ancient ocean temperatures. Students will use this fossil evidence to reconstruct a model of ancient ocean temperatures of a particular research site. Students will engage in graphing, creating a mode, making predictions, and argument from evidence as they reconstruct ancient ocean temperatures and make predictions based on their findings.

NGSS: 3-LS4-1, 3-LS4-4, MS-LS4-1, MS-LS4-2