Geologic time scale analogy james river park system. 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. Today you are going to create a geologic time calendar by taking the entire existence of the earth and scaling it to one calendar year. 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. The clock of eras one way to visualize geologic time. Our geologic time scale was constructed to visually show the duration of each time unit. Thousands and millions of years are used on a geological time scale. The authors have been at the forefront of chronostratigraphic research and initiatives to create an international geologic time scale for many years, and. My artwork is laid out in a circuitous manner, but you can use a straight sidewalk. 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. Scientists do not measure geologic time on a clock or calendar. Chapter 4 major geological events t into a timeline, beginning with the formation of the earth 4. Before you assign this activity, you may want to try it, depending on the age of the student, level of the class, or time.
This lesson introduces the geologic time scale and the concept of time. Rocks and minerals plate tectonics renewable energy and so much more. Geologic time activity worksheet ottawa hills high school. Gsa geologic time scale geological society of america.
Toilet paper analogy for geologic time activity collection. Featuring the most uptodate international geologic time scale standards and extensive graphics, this book provides a concise summary and age model of earths. Oct 26, 2018 humans subdivide time into useable units such as our calendar year, months, weeks, and days. Mar 21, 20 geological time can be confusing to some, so this video explains where and in what order the periods and eras are. Label the major events of each era on your geologic time scale by using the basic geologic time scale as a guide. Geologic time scale calendar project earth science lessons, earth. For the purposes of geology, the calendar is the geologic time scale. Swajkowski intro after completing the geologic time scale lab, we now know that there were many eons, eras, and periods during earths history. The students have seen the geologic time scale printed in their book which is almost never to scale and we have talked about where those numbers on. It is a real struggle to cover everything in a year that needs to be covered.
Science coloring pages pdf unique volcano mini book coloring. Be careful to mark down when that event began, not when it ended. Although this is an individual project, the final product is collaborative. At gsa youll find the resources, confidence, and connections you need to reach fulfilling new heights in your geoscience career. Unfortunately, the earliest pages of the book are illegible, and a number of other pages are missing fossil evidence. The earth was markedly different during each one of these periods of time, but how different was our planetary home during these times as compared to now.
Students are told that they have been hired by a travel agency that is promoting travel through time. Dedication we dedicate this third edition of the geologic time scale book to w. The clock of eras is a graphic aid to help us visualize geologic time. Geologic time is the chronology of the earths formation, changes, development, and existence. Back to the past with the geologic time scale this lesson. Dawn wagner lesson plan what is the geologic time scale. Use the geologic time scale to the right to find the missing dates and fill in the blanks under the. Pdf is with one of the windows to attain and log on the world. When geologic time is compressed to the scale of a calendar year, 1.
Fletcher 7kh geological time scale is a method of relating the timing and relationship between events that have occurred gxulqj wkh klvwru\ ri wkh duwk 7kh duwk lv pruh wkdq eloolrq \hduv rog dqg dq dssuhfldwlrq ri wkh hsdqvh. The geologic time scale gts is a system of chronological dating that relates geological strata stratigraphy to time. Thicker units such as the proterozoic were longer in duration than thinner units such as the cenozoic. Activity includes student and teacher materials in pdf format as well as background readings and assessments. What activities or exercises will the students complete with teacher guidance. A model of the geologic time scale with annotations is available to download and print here.
Students will take major events of geologic time and graph or plot on a 24 hour clock and 365 day calendar. This is the first era of the earths history and it is also the longest. Seventh grade lesson geologic time mini project betterlesson. The geological time scale the ideas of superposition and evolution provide the basis of the geological time scale, which was developed in a somewhat random fashion mostly in europe during the 19th century. Using your schools parking lot as an outdoor classroom to make a time line. Divisions of geologic time major chronostratigraphic and. We also have a printable version of the geologic time scale as a. Students will demonstrate that the geologic time scale does not divide the age of earth into equal parts as our clock or calendar does. After the video, i navigate to the geologic time website i created for this miniproject. Geological time can be confusing to some, so this video explains where and in what order the periods and eras are. Geologic time scale vocabulary eon largest division of geologic time era broad spans of time based on the general type of life existing during that time zoic animal life paleozoic ancient life mesozoic middle lifedinosaurs cenozoic recent life.
Ready to go geology earth science activities and printables. Geologic time the earth is very old 412 billion years or more according to recent estimates. The geologic time scale is roughly divided into four major erasprecambrian, paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic. 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. Chapter 4 major geological events t into a timeline. A geologic time scale is composed of standard stratigraphic divisions based on rock sequences and is calibrated in years harland and others, 1982. Geologic time scale missouri geological survey fact sheet number 12 112016 missouri geological survey director. Before you assign this activity, you may want to try it, depending on the age of the. Geologic time spans are divided into units and subunits, the largest of which are eons. Joe gillman the age of the earth on the geological clock, the age of the earth is represented by the 12 hours on the face of the clock. To get to the point the only true eras on the clock now are the paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic.
Humans subdivide time into useable units such as our calendar year, months, weeks, and days. This era includes events from the earths formation until about 640 million years ago. Over the years, the development of new dating methods and the refinement of previous methods have stimulated revisions to geologic time scales. Throughout the activity i have a quiz going on where the students calculate percentages of earth history for major geologic events, and compare it to their own ages. Bring in a oneyear calendar and share with students that the class will. The proterozoic and archaean are now termed eons and the hadean is neither era nor eon. 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. Geologic time scale demonstrated with dots pdf format court time. The geologic time scale, for kids and teachers of course. Geological time with major evolutionary events in the fossil.
It is used by geologists, paleontologists, and other earth scientists to describe the timing and relationships of events that have occurred during earths history. We provide the most uptodate premium quality data available in canada and the us. How then do scientists reckon geologic time, and why do they. The table of geologic time spans, presented here, agree with the nomenclature, dates and standard color codes set. They will work together to create their own geologic time scale. We package this data into our innovative mapping, interpretation, and analytics tools, so geoscientists, engineers, landmen, investors, executives, and other industry. Paleontology lesson3 its a matter of time objectives.
Significant developments and extinctions of plant and animal life can be shown on a geologic time scale. In class today we will investigate another way to investigate the concept of deep time by creating a. To understand evolution, humans must think in units of time much larger than those we use to define our lives. The simplest activities are those in which students are introduced. This was done by making a linear time line on the left side of the time columns. In fact, the divisions in the geologic time scale are based on distinct changes in the fossil record. Before you assign this activity, you may want to try it, depending on the age of the student, level of the class, or time constraints, you may want to leave out the events. The geological timescale the ideas of superposition and evolution provide the basis of the geological timescale, which was developed in a somewhat random fashion mostly in europe during the 19th century. Cut out each of the major events and paste them onto the. These events are measured on a geological time scale. Geology earths history geological time scalestudents often have. Using the scale 1 cm 10 million years, measure the distance to each era from today by using the following information. My grandparents were once my age are these measured as geologic time.
At the end of the precambrian era, new life forms began to appear on earth. Activity takes one to two lesson periods possibly homework assignment. Pdf while studying the physical geography of the earth, it is necessary to know. Students are told that they have been hired by a travel agency that is promoting travel throug.
The geologic time scale is split into four major erasprecambrian, paleozoic, mesozoic, and cenozoic, and are subdivided into periods. Over the years, the development of new dating methods and the refinement of previous. This science printable challenges students to identify the era cenozoic, mesozoic, paleozoic, or precambrian in which each organism listed in the table first appeared on earth. Geological time with major evolutionary events in the. The geologic calendar is a scale in which the geological lifetime of the earth is mapped onto a calendrical year. Geological time scale chart made easy with tricks this lecture explains about tricks that will help you to memorize geologic time scale and history of life in planet earth. Learn more about teaching climate literacy and energy awareness. My solution was to find a way to quickly cover the concepts of geologic time and the evolution of life on earth, without taking weeks to do so.
In this learning activity, students use a webbased geologic timeline to examine temperature, co2 concentration, and ice cover data to investigate how climate has changed during the last 715 million years. Your students will read about the geologic time scale and learn about eons, eras, periods, and epochs. This product comes with a 19 slide presentation pdf, a worksheet to go along with. It wasnt until the advent of radiometric age dating techniques in the middle 1900s that reliable numerical dates could be assigned to the previously. Students will use their knowledge of earth science to answer questions about the geologic time scale. To put this in perspective, if you were to write a book using one page for every year of earth history, the book would have 4,600,000,000 pages, be a 145 miles thick, and take 17,500 years to read.
Using a basketball court or gymnasium to make a time line. This project uses a calendar year to demonstrate the positioning of the 14 significant events in. Print and go geologic time scale workshop activity and reading passage set for your earth history unit. I introduce this concept after we have talked about the construction of the geologic column using fossils and sedimentary rocks. Geologic time scale station lab students will love you for providing them with a handson experience when learning about the geologic time scale of earth. When geologic time is compressed to the scale of a calendar year, 1 second equals about 146 years. Geological time with major evolutionary events in the fossil record william l. Geological timeline activity significant developments and extinctions of plant and. If your students are not familiar with the geologic time scale, relative dating, or absolute dating, have them perform this short activity. Cosmic calendar introduction cosmology the study of our universe, how it began, and how it has evolved can seem incomprehensible to students because of the vast eons of time between today and the beginning of the universe. The geological time scale station lab is a plug and play unit that is meant to accompany my free kesler science station lab series. For example, the extinction of the dinosaurs separates the mesozoic from the cenozoic era.
It is nearly impossible for the human mind to comprehend the amount of time that it has taken for the earth to develop to its present state, yet we try to imagine each stage of its unfolding and the time that passed during each phase of development. Geologists first used relative age dating principles to chart the chronological order of rocks around the world. A must do for you memorize the names of the geologic time scale in your book. Geologists use the names of the geologic time scale because it is a type of shorthand easier to remember than dates in years. With information in hand, choose a reference point, or a place for your trip to begin. 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. The number beside the era or period in the infotoon below show geologic time scale, for kids and teachers of course. The exercise is very effective at letting them get a sense of how long geologic time is, and how recently. It is a worldwide scale developed by correlation of fossils from all around the world. The geologic time scale began to take shape in the 1700s. Geologic time scale geology and earth science news. They have created a tool for measuring geologic time, breaking it into useable, understandable segments. Geological timeline activity manhattan beach unified. Have students or groups of students come up with their own original analogy.
Geologic time scale worksheet teachers pay teachers. The study of the geological time scale is necessary to every student of earth and other sciences. Our understanding of geologic time has come a long way. Free volcano mini book for upper elementary homeschool giveaways 4th grade. The students have seen the geologic time scale printed in their book which is almost never to scale and we have talked about where those numbers on the geologic time scale come from. The geologic time scale was created based on layers of rock. After all, evolutionary change occurs too slowly to be measured in days, months, or years. Why do you think the geologic time scale is important. Geologic time how many years must pass before something can be measured using a geological time scale. On their time scale, the dinosaurs died only about two months ago. Allows young learners to understand how really recent major events are in the big picture of things. Lesson, as with others in this series, is wellorganized and supports navigating around the timeline, but doesnt support understanding the timeline. Using a football field as an outdoor classroom to make a time line. Geologic time scale analogy friends of the james river park.