Lessons and Activities
As in the Background Information section, activities specific to the geologic
time scale are often embedded in larger earth science units. Thus, parts of some of these resources will overlap
with concepts not apparently tied to the geologic time scale directly. However, if we keep in mind the vastness
and abstract quality of geologic time, it is not hard to see how a grasp of geologic time facilitates understanding
all other earth science concepts as well as evolutionary theory.
Recall the article
Once in a Million Years from the Background Information section. We will not repeat the resource here, but
it also contains activity ideas and links to more resources.
This interactive tutorial provides students with an overview of earth’s history and its relation to geologic time.
Topics include the age of the earth, the use of time lines, and the concepts of relative and actual age. Once these topics
have been covered, their applications to rocks and fossils are explained through the concepts of superposition (oldest rocks
on the bottom), the use of fossils to determine relative age, and the use of radiometric dating to determine absolute age.
There is also an interactive geologic time scale where students can find descriptions of what the earth was like by clicking
on the eons, eras, or periods. MSP full record
In this activity, students are introduced to sequencing and geologic time through relative dating techniques.
Students begin by categorizing cards of nonsense words, then move on to cards with pictures of fossils. Once
students begin to grasp relative dating, they can extend their knowledge of geologic time by exploring radiometric
dating and developing a time line of earth’s history. There is a teacher’s guide to this activity with background
information and templates to use for teaching about relative dating. There are also objectives, materials, procedures,
and questions. MSP full record
A graphic representation of the past 4.5 billion years is in PDF and downloadable.
See
USGS Fact Sheet 2007-3015 for ages of geologic time periods. Ages in the spiral have been rounded from the
age estimates in the fact sheet. MSP full record
In this activity, students gain an understanding of relative and numerical time by placing events in
sequence and assigning relative times to the events. This will familiarize students with the methods used
by scientists to develop the geologic time scale. The activity contains objectives, materials, procedure,
and extensions. MSP full record
This interactive site can be investigated by students independently as enrichment to their study of geologic time. The length
of the time line helps reinforce the idea of the immense age of the universe. Flash animation provides a tour of the history of
the universe, the solar system, and earth. Moving the slider allows viewers to progress from the Big Bang, almost 14 billion years
ago, to the beginnings of life on earth in the Proterozoic era, through the age of the dinosaurs, and finally to the time of
Homo sapiens. When the slider stops moving, animations and text appear, highlighting important events.
Other animations accompany the time scale and show the movements of the continents, the advance and retreat of the polar ice caps,
and changes in the oxygen content of the atmosphere. A French translation is available. MSP full record
This lesson shows students that age dating of rocks involves counting atoms and comparing the counts.
Students use simulated rock samples, which show a highly magnified selection of 128 atoms. Each sample has
a different proportion of the atoms of two different elements: a parent radioisotope and its daughter product.
By counting the parent radioactive atoms and knowing the half-life of those atoms, students can figure the number
of half-lives since the sample solidified, and therefore the age of the sample.
MSP full record
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Copyright
September 2007 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work
supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any
opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this
material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of
the National Science Foundation.
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This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons License.
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