William Smith – chopped up
Name: ...............................................................
Date: ..................................................................
William Smith has become known as the ‘father of English geology’. He
worked as a geologist at Mearns Pit at High Littleton, a coalmine of the
Somerset coalfield and later was employed as the surveyor for the
Somerset Coal Canal.
He was the first person to understand faunal succession and to explain
the science of stratigraphy – that rock layers and fossils of fauna can
always be found in a same succession or sequence. In 1815, he published
the first geological map of England and Wales, with part of Scotland –
the first geological map of any country in the world.
Image in the Public Domain
Activities
1. Listen to the teacher. The teacher will read you five sentences about William Smith and
stratigraphy. Cut out the boxes below and join them in the correct order:
different layers of rock.
He had previously collected
Mearns Pit, he realised that
different fossils were found in
the deeper he went.
England. He suggested that the identical fossils in
As William Smith observed the rock layers (strata) at
different areas were of the same age.
He called this his principle of
fossils from other areas of
He noted a series of changes, in the fossils
faunal succession.
This resource is one of a group of resources for KS1, 2 and 3 on the subject of
the Somerset Coal Canal and coalfield.
More information from the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society.
© www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2016
26180
Page 1 of 2
William Smith – chopped up
Teaching notes
The five sentences are:
1. As William Smith observed the rock layers (strata) at Mearns Pit, he realised that
different fossils were found in different layers of rock.
2. He noted a series of changes, in the fossils the deeper he went.
3. He had previously collected fossils from other areas of England.
4. He suggested that the identical fossils in different areas were of the same age.
5. He called this his principle of faunal succession.
Additional material

A useful table of Smith’s geological succession – the Order of the STRATA and their
imbedded ORGANIC REMAINS, in the vicinity of BATH; examined and proved prior to
1799 is available at earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WilliamSmith/sidebar_1.php

A useful bibliography of William Smith is available at ypsyork.org/resources/yorkshirescientists-and-innovators/william-smith/

A large copy of the 1815 map is available at
earth-pages.co.uk/2015/01/25/bicentenary-ofthe-first-national-geological-map/smith-main/
 A reproduction of the 1815 map is available
for purchase.

The Somerset Coal canal
coalcanal.org/index.php
By William Smith (1769-1839) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
This resource is one of a group of resources for KS1, 2 and 3 on the subject of
the Somerset Coal Canal and coalfield.
More information from the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society.
© www.teachitprimary.co.uk 2016
26180
Page 2 of 2