This unit for students in grade 3 was developed by a team of teachers at Oak Ridge School through a 2016 Teacher-in-Residence.

This unit begins by focusing on fossils. The students explore how fossils give us information about what the world was like millions of years ago. The students will understand that traits and environmental factors have caused some species to become extinct over time, and that many plants and animals that once lived on earth no longer exist. At the end of the unit students will develop a public service announcement to help a local plant or animal that is endangered or threatened.