Fossil lab is a 119 page hyperlinked pdf document that guides students. Geological time chart check out whats going on at the different times going back millions or billions of years in the time table below. I say that one end is the beginning of the earth 4. Follow the instructions on the student activity sheet. At the end of the precambrian era, new life forms began to appear on earth. This exercise begins to make time more three dimensional and most importantly, students gain a better appreciation for geologic time and our earths history. Geologic time activity worksheet ottawa hills high school. Sep 9, 2016 geology earths history geological time scalestudents often.
It is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during earths history. The scale of geologic time is vast, currently estimated at nearly. Using the scale 1 cm 10 million years, measure the distance to each era from today by using the following information. In this activity a calendar is used to demonstrate the length of geologic time. Permission is granted to copy these sheets for instructional purposes. To better understand the concept of geologic time, have students produce a timescale metaphor to share with the class that is true to scale and reflects some of the. Use the meterstick to draw a continuous line down the middle of the tape length wise. Eon era period epoch date at boundary ma million years ago holocene neogene previously quaternary 0. Rocks and fossils missouri department of natural resources. Earth has a long and detailed history, and just as with the long and detailed tree of life, we humans need a way to organize all that information so that we can discuss and study it. The geologic time scale is an important vertical timeline. Roping geologic time randall richardson, the university of arizona after having talked about the geologic time scale, i ask for two volunteers from the class to hold a rope that is 50 feet long.
Take a look at this project on building a scale model of the solar system. Over the years, the development of new dating methods and the refinement of previous methods have stimulated revisions to geologic time scales. Geological timeline activity significant developments and extinctions of plant and. Geologic time scale practice quiz las positas college. The authors have been at the forefront of chronostratigraphic research and initiatives to create an international geologic time scale for many years, and. Without the geologic time scale it would be impossible to compare rocks made at the same time in wales and the czech republic or north america.
Use the geologic time scale calendar to answer the worksheet questions and fill in dates. The geologic time scale gts is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata stratigraphy to time. Unraveling time and the earths biologic history are arguably geologys most important contributions to humanity. Geologic time scale geology and earth science news. National geographic prehistoric timeline interactive timeline that has information about. Within this vast landscape, alaskas many national parks, preserves, monuments and national historical parks are home to a host of natural, cultural, and historic wonders. This project uses a calendar year to demonstrate the positioning of the 14 significant events in earths history. This activity allows students to practice matching significant events with the eon, era and period they occurred in. Geologic time scale calendar project with images geologic time. Use pages 156157 of your textbook, the handouts provided, and the internet as resources for the events in the geologic time scale. Free geologic timescale creator web page fossils on the web.
The bibles timescale is a written account of unknown authorship bearing similarities in form to a creation myth written by people with no actual understanding of the data or acquaintence with the data from a pre scientific era. Scientists use geologic time to help understand earths long history. The geologic time spiral a path to the past poster the centerfold illustration from the popular usgs pamphlet geologic time is now available as a downloadable poster in both pagesize and postersize resolutions. This calendar of earths history is called the geologic time scale. Geologic time modeled as an hour on a clock and as a football field. Getting started understanding geologic time is an informational tour in which students gain a basic understanding of geologic time, the evidence for events in earths history, relative and absolute dating techniques, and the significance of the geologic time scale. Geologic time background information a brief online booklet that explains how the geologic time scale is defined and how the age of the earth is determined. The dates shown were compiled from several available sources.
Capitalize the first letter and all other letters are lower case the grader is case sensitive. May 02, 2018 without the geologic time scale it would be impossible to compare rocks made at the same time in wales and the czech republic or north america to russia. The geologic time scale is predicated on observation of the data from earths actual history. During that time, life evolved into the familiar forms we see today. Dawn wagner lesson plan what is the geologic time scale. Slipped between the pages of a book in the reference section entitled whos. Also, download and print build a geologist activity. Label the major events of each era on your geologic time scale by using the basic geologic time scale as a guide. Significant developments and extinctions of plant and animal life can be shown on a geologic time scale. For the purposes of geology, the calendar is the geologic time scale. Over the years, the development of new dating methods and the refinement of previous. Its a matter of time arizona science standards 52404 grade 4 grade 5 grade 6 grade 7 grade 8 strand 1. Geologic time spans are divided into units and subunits, the largest of which are eons.
Before you assign this activity, you may want to try it, depending on the age of the. The geologic time scale video earth science lessons, science education, life science. The authors have been at the forefront of chronostratigraphic research and initiatives to create an international geologic time scale for many years, and the charts in this book present the most uptodate. Rather than include all of that information here, you can either use a textbook or online resource as a guide, or you can allow the illustrator ahem to do most of the work for you. When geologic time is compressed to the scale of a calendar year, 1 second equals about 146 years. Solar eclipse activities for the elementary classroom. Cut out each of the major events and paste them onto the. Be careful to mark down when that event began, not when it ended.
See more ideas about earth science, teaching science and earth and space science. It represents the entire history of the earth since its formation, roughly 4. Geologic time is the chronology of the earths formation, changes, development, and existence. To better understand the concept of geologic time, have students produce a time scale metaphor to share with the class that is true to scale and reflects some of the. Thousands and millions of years are used on a geological time scale. Earth activities today, we must have at least some basic understanding of geologic time. Gsa geologic time scale geological society of america. The geologic time scale lays out the entire history of the earth, divided into eons, eras, periods, epochs, and ages. Geologic time scale analogy friends of james river park. To understand evolution, humans must think in units of time much larger than those we use to define our lives. After all, evolutionary change occurs too slowly to be measured in days, months, or years.
Using studentcreated metaphors to comprehend geologic time. They have created a tool for measuring geologic time, breaking it into useable, understandable segments. The dot scale of geologic time is adapted from an idea by. Meter stick, 5 cm adding machine tape, pencil, colored pencils.
Divisions of geologic time major chronostratigraphic and. The geologic time scale is roughly divided into four major erasprecambrian, paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic. This is the first era of the earths history and it is also the longest. This geologic time chart shows whats going on in a geologic time scale table in a way that is easy to read, understand and learn about the history of the earth. And so, scientists developed the geologic time scale. This vast span of time, called geologic time by earth scientists, is difficult to comprehend in the familiar time units of months and years, or even centuries. Paper timeline today, you will create a scale timeline of earths history on a long sheet of adding machine paper scale.
Accompanying the set is a 16page, fullcolor booklet that describes the rocks and minerals and their uses. Geologic time scale practice quiz this quiz is for historical geology students andor geomajors. Geologic time scale analogy friends of the james river park. In this activity, students in groups of three will construct a vertical representation of a geologic time scale and research facts, events, and organisms that differentiate between time scale eras, periods, and epochs. This is a very useful vertical timeline called the geologic time scale. The four eras that make up the geologic time scale are. Explanations of stability and change in natural or designed systems can be constructed by examining the changes over time and forces at different scales, including the atomic scale. Students can be easily confused by the multiple divisions of the geologic time scale.
With millions of acres of diverse and vital wilderness and a human history reaching back 14,000 years, the enormity of alaskas story is almost incomprehensible. Students could access the geology wing, an online exhibit on the museum of paleontology website, and take a close look at the time periods making up the geologic time scale. The chinle formation in the painted desert began forming over 200 million years ago. These events are measured on a geological time scale. These materials are provided to assist in understanding time relationships and how life on earth changed through time. Cut out each of the major events and paste them onto the geologic time scale.
Scientists do not measure geologic time on a clock or calendar. Apr 06, 20 the geologic time scale is predicated on observation of the data from earths actual history. Students could complete the sequencing time activity in which they create a personal time line in an effort to better understand the geologic time line. To introduce students to the vastness of geologic time and the concept of scale. This activity works best in the fall semester because most of the exciting familiar to students events in earth history occur toward the end of the calendar year from late november to new years eve. Teaching about evolution and the nature of science. This 2012 geologic time scale is an enhanced, improved and expanded version of the gts2004, including chapters on planetary scales, the cryogenianediacaran periodssystems, a prehistory scale of human development, a survey of sequence stratigraphy, and an extensive compilation of stableisotope chemostratigraphy. The geologic calendar is a scale in which the geological lifetime of the earth is mapped onto a calendrical year. Using a short video and a handson group activity, this lesson plan aims to break down the geologic time scale. My grandparents were once my age are these measured as geologic time.
To understand how a timeline works, you will make a personal timeline and compare it to. Learn more about this set and other educational items by visiting the publications desk in rolla at 111 fairgrounds road or your may order online from the missouri geology store. Geologic time scale events activity flashcards quizlet. This era includes events from the earths formation until about 640 million years ago. Nova online geologic timeline includes pictures for the periods and links to information about different life forms. Over these billions of years since earths formation, layers upon layers of rock, called rock strata, have been piling up. Find geologic time lesson plans and teaching resources. The scale of geologic time is vast, currently estimated at nearly 4. On this calendar, the inferred appearance of the first living singlecelled organisms, prokaryotes, occurred on a geologic. Time, space, and energy phenomena can be observed at various scales using models to study systems that are too large or too small. For this activity, the scale is 1 mm 1 million years.
Humans subdivide time into useable units such as our calendar year, months, weeks, and days. A geologic time scale is composed of standard stratigraphic divisions based on rock sequences and is calibrated in years harland and others, 1982. The table of geologic time spans, presented here, agree with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set. Other students should choose the simplified time scale quiz link below type in the name of each age simplified time scale quiz. We are currenty building this geologic site and adjusting times and events listed on this geological time scale. To complete this exercise, you will need a roll of toilet paper preferably a roll with sheets, but any other will work, about onehalf hour before class to mark up your geologic time scale and about 510 minutes of class time. The geologic time scale is a system used by scientists to describe earths history in terms of major geological or paleontological events such as the formation of a new rock layer or the appearance or demise of certain lifeforms. Youll be drawing a similar timeline highlighting the major periods of time since the formation of the earth, scaled accurately for length, highlighting the organisms and environmental features that characterized each period. Free geologic timescale creator web page fossils on the. Use the geologic time scale to the right to find the missing dates and fill in the blanks under the. Geological time scale project by aliher khan on prezi. Geological timeline activity manhattan beach unified. Geologic age activity students investigate radioactivity as a tool for measuring geologic time. Geologic time scale use with 12 month calendar students record events.