University of California
Ucmp: Web Geological Time Machine
The Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley offers an online geological time machine which allows you to catch a glimpse of ancient eras in earth's history. Click into an "Era" to learn about its stratigraphy, life forms, localities, and...
University of California
Ucmp: Understanding Geologic Time
A slideshow for teachers and students exploring Earth's geologic timeline and history. Click the buttons at left to select the teacher or student version.
US Geological Survey
U.s. Geological Survey: Fossils, Rocks, and Time
Publication delves into the importance of studying the Earth's history and how we go about doing it. View pictures and diagrams showing the geological time scale and fossil succession.
Curated OER
National Park Service: What Is Geologic Time?
A discussion of geologic time, along with a presentation of evidence for the time span involved.
BBC
Bbc Nature: Prehistoric Life: Pleistocene Epoch
Overview of the Earth in the Pleistocene Epoch told by photos, news, and external links with an emphasis on what grew then, what lived then, the causes of mass extinction, types of fossils, and what life was like in general.
University of Utah
University of Utah: Genetic Science Learning: learn.genetics: Geologic Time
Appreciate the immensity of geologic time by scrolling through a timeline. Includes links to relevant portions of a video lecture and a detailed time line.
Other
Planetary Society: Relative and Absolute Ages in Histories of Earth and the Moon
A lengthy scholarly article that discusses the geologic time scale, its history of development, age-dating events that occurred in different eras, and how absolute and relative dating are used to assess the ages of the Earth and Moon....
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Hhmi: Biointeractive: Earth Viewer
Watch the earth change with this interactive app? What did Earth look like 250 million years ago? Or 1 billion years ago? Or 4.5 billion years ago? What was the climate like in the deep past? Find the answers with EarthViewer, an...
![Western Oregon University: Earth System Science: Geologic Time [Pdf] PPT](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Western Oregon University: Earth System Science: Geologic Time [Pdf] PPT")
Other
Western Oregon University: Earth System Science: Geologic Time [Pdf]
An 81-page slideshow that looks at the principles of geology with respect to relative dating, at different concepts describing geological processes, at absolute age and radiometric dating, at the eons and eras in the geologic time scale,...
Utah Education Network
Uen: Nhmu: Time Machine a Journey Into the Past
Identify geologic time periods and the animals and plants that lived during that time period.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: The Anthropocene
What kind of evidence could demonstrate that humans have begun to dominate and alter the life systems of Earth and have entered a new geological epoch? This article discusses the suggestion that we have entered the Anthropocene and...
University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky: Important Dates and Cool Creatures in Earth History
A bullet list of important events in Earth's history broken down by eons, eras, periods, and epochs.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Geologic Time Line
A time line of Earth's geologic periods from 600 million years ago.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Field Activity: Exploring Glaciers, Ancient Seas, and Volcanism
In this geoscience all day field activity at Interstate State Park at Taylors Falls, MN, students investigate and explore three events in Minnesota geological history.
Other
Prehistoric Planet: Rock Layers: Timeline of Life on Earth
Offers an easy to understand explanation of the earth's layers and the fossils we find in each layer. It explains how these are interpreted by scientists to represent the evolution of animal and plant life through the geological eras.
Other
Hstry: Origin of the Earth
Engaging and interactive timeline with illustrations and video on the origin of the Earth takes us from the Archean Era to the Cenozoic.
Other
Georgia Perimeter College: The Cretaceous Period
Through this resource, in outline format, information is presented about the global setting and life in the Cretaceous.
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Nagt: Bringing the Geologic Time Scale Down to Earth in the Students' Backyard
This activity is specifically designed for a field trip to Drayton Hall, which is a historic plantation near Charleston, South Carolina. It does provide a model of how a similar activity could be designed for a local area, and there are...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: A Constructivist Teaching Model for Conceptualizing Geologic Time
The activity fosters critical thinking and allows for student generated essential questions to further their understanding of Earth's history and geologic time.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Prehistoric Climate Change and Why It Matters Today
A slideshow will introduce the process of climate change that the earth has experienced since the beginning of time. Discover "leaf margin analysis" which scientists use while studying fossils to determine the temperatures they were...
BBC
Bbc Nature: Prehistoric Life: Cambrian Period
Overview of the Earth in the Cambrian Period told by photos, news, and external links with an emphasis on what grew and lived then, the causes of mass extinction, types of fossils, and what life was like in general.
BBC
Bbc Nature: Prehistoric Life: Devonian Period
Overview of the Earth in the Devonian Period told by photos, news, and external links with an emphasis on what grew and lived then, the causes of mass extinction, types of fossils, and what life was like in general.
PBS
Nova: A Brief History of Earth
This timeline is a good resource if you are looking for brief descriptions of the geologic periods. Descriptions include pictures of common organisms for each period and the range of time covered by each period.
Other
Fossil Museum: Geologic Time
Pictures of fossils are arranged in chronological sequence and by geologic period. Pictures include scientific names and location where the fossils were found.