News by Levels · Level 3 · For teachers
Teacher guide & answers
Chinese Fossils Suggest an Early Amphibian Adapted to the Open Sea
How to use these two pages
Give learners the student worksheet. It contains the story and questions, without the answers. Keep this guide for yourself. Use it to lead the activity and explain the answers afterwards.
Student worksheetA simple 15–20-minute lesson
- Before reading · 2 minutes
Show the title. Ask: “What do you think this story is about?”
- Read and answer · 8–10 minutes
Give out the student worksheet. Learners read for the main idea, then reread to answer the 2 questions. They can compare answers with a partner.
- Discuss and write · 5–8 minutes
Check the answers below together. Ask learners to point to the clue in the story, then finish with the open question.
Adjust the support: Let learners use word help or Level 1 if needed. For a challenge, compare the wording in another level. This activity is not a proficiency test.
Answers to the 2 questions
The question numbers match the student worksheet. Each answer includes a reason and the clue learners can find in the story.
Why do the researchers interpret the animal as marine?
Correct answer: A — Its fossils occurred away from ancient land, and their chemical signatures resemble seawater.
Why: The article combines the geological setting with the chemical signatures; armour alone does not establish habitat.
Clue in the story: Its bony armour covered a flattened body. The skeletons were preserved in rocks that formed away from land, while chemical signatures in the fossils resemble those of seawater from the same period. Together, the observations support the researchers' interpretation that the animal lived in a marine environment.
Which claim does the text identify as a hypothesis rather than a directly established fact?
Correct answer: A — The proposed role of armour and organs in handling salt
Why: The passage qualifies the proposed salt-tolerance mechanism because physiological details are not fully preserved.
Clue in the story: It may be the first fully marine amphibian known from the fossil record. The proposed role of its armour and organs in tolerating salt remains a hypothesis; the fossils do not preserve every detail of its physiology.
The open question: accept different answers
Ask learners: Describe two observations supporting marine life and distinguish them from the proposed salt-tolerance mechanism.
One possible answer: The skeletons were preserved in rocks formed away from land, and their chemical signatures resemble ancient seawater. Those observations support a marine habitat, while the role of armour and organs in tolerating salt remains a hypothesis.
This is an example, not the only correct answer. Look for a relevant idea, a reason and the learner’s own words. Learners can answer aloud or write one or two sentences.