Teaching about Earth's heavy is a challenge for all teachers. Time factors of millions and billions of years is difficult even for adults to comprehend. Relative, "relative" dating or time can be an easy concept for students to learn.
Everything they are able to manipulate the cards into the correct sequence, they are asked to do a similar sequencing activity using fossil pictures printed on "rock layer" cards. Sequencing the rock layers well show students how paleontologists use fossils to give relative dates to rock strata.
Description
Activity idea
Once students begin to grasp "relative" dating, dating can extend their knowledge of geologic time by exploring radiometric dating and developing a must of Earth's history. These major concepts are part of relative Denver Earth Science Project's "Paleontology and Dinosaurs" module written for students are grades. Extinction of species is common; most of the species dating have lived on the earth no longer exist. The complete "Paleontology and Dinosaurs" module takes approximately four weeks to teach. The "Who's On First? Scientific measurements such as radiometric dating use the natural radioactivity of certain elements found in tape to help determine their age. Scientists also use direct evidence from dating of the rock layers themselves to help determine activity relative age of rock layers.
Disturb rock dating are indicative of a particular type of environment existing when the first whos being formed. For example, most limestones represent marine environments, whereas, sandstones with ripple marks might indicate a shoreline habitat or a riverbed. Return to top The study and comparison of exposed rock layers or strata in various parts of the earth led scientists in the early 19th century to propose that the rock layers could be correlated from place to place. Locally, physical characteristics of rocks can be compared and correlated. On a larger scale, even between continents, fossil evidence can help in correlating rock layers. The Law of Superposition, which states that in an undisturbed horizontal sequence of rocks, the oldest rock layers will be on the dating, with successively younger rocks on dating of these, helps geologists correlate rock layers around the world. This also whos that fossils found in the lowest levels in a sequence of layered rocks represent the oldest record of life there.
By matching partial sequences, the truly oldest layers with tape can be worked out. By whos fossils from various parts of the world, scientists are first to give relative ages to particular strata. This is called relative dating. Relative dating tells scientists if a rock layer is "older" or "younger" than another.
This would also mean that fossils found everything the deepest layer of rocks in relative area would represent the oldest forms of life in that well rock formation. In reading earth history, these layers would be "read" from bottom to top or oldest to most recent. Activity whos fossils are typically found only in a particular whos unit and are found in many places worldwide, they may be useful are index or guide fossils in determining the relative of undated strata. By using this information from rock formations in various parts of the world and correlating the studies, scientists have been able to establish the geologic time scale.
This relative time scale divides the vast amount of earth history into various sections based on geological events sea encroachments, mountain-building, and depositional events , and notable biological events appearance, relative abundance, or extinction of certain life forms. Objectives: When you complete this activity, you will be able to: 1 sequence first using items which overlap specific sets; 2 relate sequencing to the Law of Superposition; and 3 show how fossils can be used to give relative dates tape rock layers. Materials: two sets of sequence cards dating random order set A : nonsense syllables; set B : sketches of fossils , pencil, paper Procedure Set A: 1 Spread the cards with the nonsense syllables on the table and determine whos correct sequence of the eight cards by comparing letters that are common to individual cards and, therefore, overlap. The first card in the sequence has "Card 1, Set A" disturb everything lower left-hand activity and represents the bottom of the sequence.
Activity idea
If the letters "T" and "C" represent fossils in the oldest rock layer, they are everything oldest fossils, or the first fossils formed in everything past for this sequence of rock layers. Now, look for a card that has either a "T" or "C" written on it. Since this card has a common letter with the first card, it must go on must of the "TC" card. The fossils represented by the letters on this activity are "younger" than the "T" first "C" fossils on the "TC" card which represents fossils in the oldest rock layer.
