Curated OER
Warm Up: When Modern Human Behavior Appeared in Early Hominids
Upper graders or entry college level learners use the provided article links to answer three questions regarding early modern human behavior. They compose short essay responses that accommodate each part of the overarching question,...
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The History of Life on Earth
Using meters as years, your class works together to map out the geologic time scale on a football field. Plenty of background information is included in this lesson plan as well as several resource links and a student worksheet. Your...
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Earth Science Lesson Plans on Geologic Time
Springboard your fourth and fifth graders into the study geologic time. They will complete 7 activities to learn about geologic time and the topics most often associated with it: astronomy, creation, planet formation, volcanology,...
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How Was Coal Formed?
Geology can be a lot of fun. Learners review geology related vocabulary, make flashcards, use encyclopedias to answer questions, then explore the formation of coal. They identify dates and order them into key time frames of geologic...
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Geologic Age
Students investigate radioactivity as a tool for measuring geologic time and how geologists use this information to determine the absolute age of rocks or minerals.
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Mesozoic Murals
Students create a mural of one of the Mesozoic Periods. In this geologic timeline lesson, students will research the plants and animals that lived in the Mesozoic Era in order to create a mural to scale that represents one of the three...
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Sedimentation Lab Activity
Students predict how sediments in a water column will settle. In this earth science lesson, students examine the layers of sedimentation. Students are given sediments to place into a column of water and observe how they settle....
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Geologic Time Scale Analogy
Students examine geologic time to scale. In this geologic time lesson, students create a time-scale metaphor that shows some of the Earth's important events. Students present their metaphor to the class.
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Geologic Timelines
Students create a timeline of geologic events of the Phanerozoic Eon. In this geologic timeline lesson, students view a handout that shows a timeline of the Earth's history. They create their own timeline of the Phanerozoic Eon with...
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To The Clock of Eras
Third graders investigate the events of geological time using a chart called a "Clock of Eras". In this geological events lesson plan, 3rd graders compare a standard clock to a geological clock. In addition, students consider periods...
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Geologic Time Scale
For this geologic time scale worksheet, students are given a list of terms and eras which they use to complete a time scale. They classify organic and inorganic changes that took place in the Precambrian era, the Cenozoic era, the...
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Geological Time Scale
In this geological time worksheet, student use a geologic time scale to understand the difference between eons, eras, and periods. Then students complete 2 short answer questions.
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Toilet Paper Geologic Time Scale
Learners examine and demonstrate the extent of geologic time compared to recent time. They develop a demonstration of geologic time using an unrolled roll of toilet paper, with each sheet of toilet paper representing 20 million years.
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My Time
Students create a timeline of their lives. In this timeline lesson, students discuss relative and absolute time. They use events in their lives to create categories on a timeline. They link this lesson to geologic timelines.
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Time and Earth History Socratic Questions
Students develop a sense of geologic ("deep") time and the ways in which Earth scientists construct the geologic time scale. They study he major events that shaped Earth, including the origin and evolution of its lithosphere, atmosphere,...
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Presenting the Geologic Timescale
Students model the geologic timescale using distance as a metaphor for time. They write a summary of a major event or fossil organism. and station themselves and their summaries along a path within a gymnasium, and present their...
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The Geologic TimeString
Students create a simple tool to visualize geologic time. They create knots to represent the K/T, P/T and Precambrian boundaries in a 4.6 meter string with each millimeter representing one million years. They then refer back to this...
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Making The Geologic Time Scale Real
Students construct a geologic timeline the size of a football field. They work in small groups to calculate the yardage for significant events in the Earth's history and then as a class pace out all of the events.
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Fossils and Geologic Time
Students explore the development of the geologic time scale. They examine the major time periods in earth's history. Students discuss the role fossils play in helping us understand history.
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It's About Time
Pupils create their own timeline. In this social science lesson plan, students write the important events that happened in their lives on their timeline and then compare their timeline to Earth's timeline.
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Dinosaurs
In this earth science worksheet, students match each vocabulary term, that names something specific related to earth science, with its correct description found in the right column. They identify different types of scientists and various...
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Change by Chance?
Sixth graders are able to see the role of chance in evolution. The activity is similar to the party game "gossip" or "telephone." Students start off with a drawing of an animal which changes as they pass their copies of the animal to...
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Fossils
Seven hands-on lessons module where students learn about fossils. These inquiry-based investigations explore how fossils form, properties of fossils, comparing fossils, how they show the age of the Earth, and what paleontologists do.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: The Wall of Time
This illustrated timeline from the Lunar and Planetary Institute provides a journey through four-and-a-half billion years of time from the birth of our solar system to its current existence today.