Embedded Files
Lessons
Fossils
The Relative Age of Rocks
Radioactive Dating
The Geologic Time Scale
Early Earth
Eras of Earth's History
NC Standard
8.E.2 Understand the history of Earth and its life forms based on evidence of change recorded in fossil records and landforms.
8.E.2.1 Infer the age of Earth and relative age of rocks and fossils from index fossils and ordering of rock layers (relative dating and radioactive dating).
Section 1, Fossils
Section 1, Fossils
What are fossils?
How do fossils form?
What is sedimentary rock?
What are mold fossils?
What are cast fossils?
What are petrified fossils?
What are trace fossils?
What is the fossil record?
What is evolution?
Who are paleontologists?
Lesson 2, The Relative Age of Rocks
Lesson 2, The Relative Age of Rocks
What is relative age?
What is absolute age?
How does the Law of Superposition aid scientists?
How do scientists determine relative age?
What are extrusions?
What are intrusions?
What is a fault?
How can faults, intrusions, extrusions and unconformities hinder geologists?
What are unconformities?
How is the fossil index useful?
Law of Superposition
Law of Superposition
Lesson 3, Radioactive Dating
Lesson 3, Radioactive Dating
What are atoms?
What are elements?
What happens during radioactive decay?
What is the half-life of a radioactive element?
What type of age does radioactive dating determine?
How do geologists use radioactive dating to determine the age of rocks?
How is potassium-argon dating useful?
How is carbon-14 dating useful?
In which type of rocks does radioactive dating occur?
Carbon Dating
Lesson 4, The Geologic Time Scale
Lesson 4, The Geologic Time Scale
What is the geologic time scale?
How is the geologic time scale divided?
In which era are the Cretaceous, Jurassic, and Triassic periods?
In which era are the Permian, Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician, and Cambrian periods?
In which era are the Quaternary and Tertiary periods?
In which era are you currently living?
In which period are you currently living?
In which time period is 88 percent of Earth’s history covered?
What does the prefix paleo mean?
Which time period occurred about 4.6 billion years ago?
Lesson 5, Early Earth
Lesson 5, Early Earth
About how long ago was the Earth formed?
How were scientists able to come up with the age of the Earth?
What are comets?
How do scientists believe oceans were created?
How do scientists believe present day continents were created?
Which type of dating helped determine Earth’s age?
During which period of time do scientists believe that the Earth was formed?
About how long ago were the first organisms thought to have lived on Earth?
What types of organisms lived during this time?
Lesson 6, Eras of Earth's History
Lesson 6, Eras of Earth's History
What is the Cambrian Explosion?
What are invertebrates?
What are vertebrates?
What are amphibians?
What are reptiles?
When did mass extinctions occur?
Which era contains the Age of Reptiles?
Which era contains the evolution of mammals?
Which era contains invertebrates (trilobites) and vertebrates (jawless fish)?
Which era contains the Age of Fish, amphibians, reptiles, and the Pangaea?
Paleozoic Era
Cambrian era: explosion, invertebrates, trilobites
Ordovician era: early vertebrates: jawless fish
Silurian era: land plants, insects, spiders
Devonian era: Age of Fishes: trilobites, amphibians
Carboniferous era: first reptiles
Permian era: mass extinction, Pangaea
Mesozoic Era
Triassic period: Age of Reptiles, mammals
Jurassic period: birds
Cretaceous period: flowering plants, mass extinction
Cenozoic Era
Tertiary period: Age of Mammals
Quaternary period: modern humans, ice age ends
Test Review
Short Answer & Essay Questions
Compare and contrast fossils.
Describe what scientists can learn about the past by studying fossils.
Contrast the relative and absolute age of a rock.
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