The Fossil Record
Learning Target
Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth.
Success Criteria
Students will learn about and discuss various methods for determining the age of fossils.
Students will compare modern organisms to fossil evidence.
Questions to Ponder
What are some examples of organisms changing over really long periods of time?
Hypothesize as to why some ancient organisms changed traits over the years.
How do we determine how old some fossils are?
Remains Of Four-Legged Whale That Walked On Land Found in Peru
Read the following article to discover how paleontologists discovered evidence of a four legged whale and how it might have changed over time.
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Why might it have been advantageous for offspring of Peregocetus pacificus to eventually lose their hind legs?
Whales now have vestigial bones (that serve no apparent purpose) where a set of hind legs would have been. Why might this be evidence that the Peregocetus pacificus and modern whales are related?
The fossil remains are estimated to be almost 43 million years old. How do you think Paleontologists determined that age?
How can fossil and rock data determine when an organism lived?
Fossils are the remains, imprints, or traces of organisms that were once alive. By studying fossils, scientists can learn where, when, and how those organisms lived.
Fossils are usually found in sedimentary rocks. This is because the intense pressure and heat that create igneous and metamorphic rocks often destroy fossils.
Scientists use special fossils, called index fossils, to date rocks. Index fossils are from species that existed on Earth for relatively short periods of time and were abundant and widespread. Index fossils found in a sedimentary rock layer can be used to help date the layer.
Another way scientists might determine the age of a rock layer is by using the principle of superposition. This states that in undisturbed layers of rock, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the youngest rocks are towards the top. However, layers of rock do not always remain undisturbed. A fault could cause rock layers to overturn. In this case, scientists use relative dating to determine the order of events and the relative age of rocks by looking at the position of rocks in a sequence. Relative dating does not indicate the exact age of rock layers. It does indicate, however, that a layer is younger than the layers below it and older than a fault cutting through it.
Besides using index fossils, superposition, and relative dating, scientists also use a more precise method, called absolute dating, to date rocks. Absolute dating uses the radioactive decay of radioactive isotopes of minerals in rocks to determine the age of the rock.
By measuring the amounts of parent and daughter materials in a rock and by knowing the half-life of the parent, a geologist can calculate the absolute age of the rock. This method is called radiometric dating.
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What did you find to be the most important information to record in your notes?
Do you think there might be another way to determine the age of rocks and fossils?
Using Radioactive Decay to Determine Age
Virtual Lab - Fossil Dating
In this Virtual Lab you will confirm or refute the age of a rare fossil and determine when the organism that produced it was alive. To date the fossil you will use radiometric dating of rock layers and information about index fossils.
Procedure:
Begin at one of three dig sites. Click and drag a nail with a label to each of the four rock and sediment layers.
Drag the magnifying glass over the rock and sediment layers to look for fossils.
Note: A hand is displayed on the handle of the magnifying glass. As you move the magnifying glass, the layer the hand is on indicates the rock layer where a fossil may be located.
When you find fossils, compare them to those shown in the field guide. To access the field guide, click the laptop computer. Under Menu click field guide. Compare the geologic rock layers shown with those of the dig site. Click the Next button to research the fossils.
Open the Table and record the names of the fossils and the layers in which you found them. Return to the dig site.
Click and drag the hammer to the layers you want samples from. The samples are placed in the tray according to the layers from which they are taken.
Click and drag each of the samples to the utility truck's front driver's side window.
Click the utility truck's window again to send the rock samples to the lab for absolute dating.
Click the laptop computer to check your email. Under Menu click e-mail to read the results of the absolute dating tests.
Click the Next button and read the graph to determine the age of your rock sample. Find the flashing point on the graph. Convert the number of half-lives into millions of years. You may use the Calculator, if necessary. If you received data for more than one rock sample, click the Next button again and determine the age of this rock sample. Record your findings in the Table.
Use your Journal to describe your findings.
To explore a different dig site, click the Reset button.
