Stardust to Storytellers Prehistory

Home Classes Hub Curriculum Reviews Homeschool 101 Gameschooling Our Blog How You Can Help

Start Here

Pacing Guide Materials List by Week Narration and Timeline Creation About the ELA Activities Optional Spines Optional Books List by Week

Lesson 1

Balloon Hands-on Demonstration The Story of the Big Bang Rabbit Holes: Big Bang Other Activities to Try Literature Extension: Exploring Creation Myths Music Extension: Percussion and Also sprach zarathustra ELA Activities-big

Lesson 2

Play Dough Stars The Story of Stars Rabbit Holes: Star Formation Play Based Activities Star Myths Around the World Van Gogh’s Cosmos Sentence Types ELA Activities: Star Formation

Lesson 3

My Cosmic Address The Story of Our Galaxy and Solar System Rabbit Holes: Our Galaxy Play Based Activities: Galaxy “The Planets” by Gustav Holst Constellation Stories from Around the World ELA Activities: Solar System

Lesson 4

Gravity Demonstration The Story of Gravity Rabbit Holes: Gravity Gravity in a Bottle Activity Gravity in Balance ELA Activities: Gravity

Lesson 5

Rabbit Holes: Formation of Earth The Story of Earth's Formation Earth Creation Myths Balloon-Print Art Earth's Layers and Density Crash Test Earth Misty Copeland and the Firebird Suite ELA: Earth's Formation

Lesson 6

Rabbit Holes: Story of Rocks The Story of Rocks Rock Cycle Art Project: "Paint the Cycle" Rock Sorting Lesson: How Do We Tell Rocks Apart? Sediment Jar Erosion Demo: How Wind and Water Change Earth Fossil Layers and Sedimentary Rock Demonstration (Bread + Gummy Candy!) Volcano/Mountain Myths ELA Activities: Rock Cycle

Lesson 7

Rabbit Holes: Plate Tectonics The Story of Plate Tectonics Alma Thomas–Style Plate Tectonics Art Project The Great Wave and Tectonic Tsunamis Scientist Spotlight: Marie Tharp Earthquake Engineering: Shake It Up with Jell-O What Is a Volcano? Turtle Myths and Shifting Earth ELA Activities: Plate Tectonics

Lesson 8

Rabbit Holes: Liquid Water The Story of Water and Atmosphere Water Myths and Flood Stories Discussion Questions: We Are Water Protectors Maya Lin and Wave Formations The Goldilocks Zone: Why Earth Is Just Right for Life The Amazing Atmosphere – Earth’s Protective Blanket Ocean Slime & the Water Cycle ELA Activities: Liquid Water

Lesson 9

Rabbit Holes: Definition of Life The Story about What is Life? Exploring Life Through The Carnival of the Animals Moral & Ethical Discussion: What Counts as Life? Living vs. Nonliving Collage ELA Activities: Defining Life

Lesson 10

Rabbit Holes: First Life The Story of the First Life Spotlight on Hilma af Klint Ancestor Stories A Billion Tiny Things Microbe Size Comparison ELA Activities: First Life

Lesson 11

Rabbit Holes: Oxygen The Story of Oxygen Spotlight on Kara Walker Wings of Air Build a Model of Photosynthesis Fossil Hotspot: Shark Bay, Western Australia Synechococcus (still alive today!) ELA Activities: Oxygen

Lesson 12

Rabbit Holes: Eukaryotes The Story of Eukaryotes How Do Soft Things Fossilize? Trickster Tales Artist Spotlight: Howardena Pindell ELA Activities: Eukaryotes

Lesson 13

Rabbit Holes Dot Stories of Early Life Rabbit Holes: Multicellular Life Monsters & Multicellular Life Cnidarian Ancestors The Story of Multicellular Life ELA Activities: Multicellular

Lesson 14

Rabbit Holes The Story of the Cambrian Explosion Rabbit Holes: Cambrian Myths of the Sea Echoes of the Deep: Body Sort: Who Gets to Be a Fossil? Anomalocaris Fossil Hotspot ELA Activities: Cambrian

Lesson 15

Lesson 16

Lesson 17

Hands On: Play Dough Insects The Story of the Carboniferous World Rabbit Holes: Carboniferous Other Activities: Life on Land Literature Extension: Firefly Myths ELA Activities: Carboniferous

Lesson 18

Hands-On: Playdough Creatures Story of the Permian Period Rabbit Holes: Permian Other Activties Permian ELA Activities: Permian

Lesson 19

Hands-On: Making Carbon Dioxide The Story of the Great Dying Rabbit Holes: The Great Dying Other Activities: The Great Dying Literature Extension: Hades and the Underworld ELA Activities: The Great Dying

Lesson 20

The Story of When Dinosaurs Began to Rise Rabbit Holes: Triassic Other Activities: Triassic Literature Extension: What Is a Dragon? ELA Activities: Triassic Hands On: Moving Like Reptiles vs. Dinosaurs

Lesson 21

Hands On: Measuring Jurassic Giants The Story of the Jurassic Giants Rabbit Holes: Jurassic Other Activities: Jurassic Literature Extension: East Asian Dragons (China, Korea, Japan) ELA Activities: Jurassic

Lesson 22

Hands-On: Fruit Dissection The Story of Flowers and New Partnerships Rabbit Holes: Cretaceous Other Activities: Cretaceous Literature Extension: European Dragons ELA Activities: Cretaceous

Lesson 23

The Story of the End of the Dinosaurs Rabbit Holes: End of Dinosaurs Other Activities: End of the Dinosaur Literature Extension: Dragon-Like Creatures in Other Regions ELA Activities: End of Dinosaurs Hands On: Impact Crater Simulation

Lesson 24

The Story of When Mammals Took the Stage Rabbit Holes: Mammals ELA Activities: Mammals Other Activities: Mammals Hands-On Activity: Mammal Survival Simulation

Lesson 25

The Story of Dinosaur Descendants Rabbit Holes: Dinosaur Descendants Other Activities: Birds ELA Activities: Dinosaur Descendants Hands-On Activity: Bird Beak Exploration

Lesson 26

The Story of Ice Age Giants Rabbit Holes: Mega Mammals ELA Activities: Mega Mammals Literature Extension: Stories of the Arctic I Other Activities: Ice Age Hands-On Activity: Blubber & Fur Insulation Experiment

Lesson 27

The Story of Glaciers and Change Rabbit Holes: Glaciers ELA Activities: Glaciers Other Activities: Glaciers Hands-On Activity: Glacier Movement Demo

Lesson 28

The Story of Primates and Our Family Tree Rabbit Holes: Primates ELA Activities: Primates Other Activities: Primates Hands-On Activity: Thumb Power Test

Lesson 29

The Story of What Makes a Human Rabbit Holes: Humans ELA Activities: Humans Hands-On Activity: Dexterity & Bipedalism Challenge Other Activities: Humans

Lesson 30

The Story of Tools, Fire, and Survival Rabbit Holes: Tools Other Activities: Tools ELA Activities: Tools Hands-On Activity: Soap Stone Tool Knapping

Lesson 31

Hands-On: Migration Map The Story of Human Migration Rabbit Holes: Human Migration Other Activities: Migration Literature Extension: Human Migration & Wayfinding ELA Activities: Human Migration

Lesson 32

Hands On: Cave Art Paintings! The Story of Before History Rabbit Holes: Before History Other Activities Art Extension: Hand Stencils of Cueva de las Manos, Argentina Literature Extension: The Gift of the Great Buffalo by Carole Lindstrom ELA Activities: Before History

14

The Cambrian Explosion

What caused the explosion of life in the ocean?

I have completed this lesson Next Lesson

More in this lesson

14: The Cambrian Explosion
Rabbit Holes
The Story of the Cambrian Explosion
Rabbit Holes: Cambrian
Myths of the Sea
Echoes of the Deep:: Learning from the Didgeridoo
Body Sort: Who Gets to Be a Fossil?
Anomalocaris: The Weird Shrimp Thing That Wasn’t a Shrimp
Fossil Hotspot: Burgess Shale
ELA Activities: Cambrian