Curated OER
Relative Dating-Telling Time Using Fossils
Young scholars explore how to read fossil range charts. They develop an knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the fossil record. Students become familiar with the concepts index fossil and fossil range. Young scholars use bar...
Curated OER
The History of Life
In this history of life worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle by figuring out the vocabulary words associated with the 11 clues given. Then students review how paleontologists use fossils to learn more about past living things...
Curated OER
How Old Is Mike?
Students examine the absolute dating of fossils, they use a list of names and ages to determine the difference between relative age and absolute age. They explore the relative age and absolute age of people and of fossils.
Curated OER
Lizard Lab
In this detailed and comprehensive multi-day activity, budding evolutionary biologists use real data from lizard populations in the Canary Islands to examine evolution and natural selection.
Curated OER
Energy from Atoms
In this energy from atoms worksheet, learners match 10 sentences to given terms related to nuclear energy, electricity, fission, and nuclear reactions. They also answer 3 questions about nuclear waste and atomic reactions.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Radioactive Dating: Looking at Half Lives Using M&ms
In this activity, students gain a better understanding of radioactive dating and half-lives by using M&Ms to demonstrate the idea of radioactive decay. They will be able to see how scientists can determine the age of rocks by looking...
![Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Other
Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf]
This set of activities from the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology has students investigating how relative dating and absolute dating methods are used to determine the age of rocks and fossils.
California State University
California State University Virtual Courseware Project: Radiocarbon Dating
Use interactive graphs and other diagrams to answer questions about carbon dating.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley Lab: Radioactive Dating
This site provides an overview of radioactive dating, a process used to determine the age of rocks and other materials.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Dating Popcorn
In this activity, students use popcorn to simulate the process scientists use to date layers in an ice core.
Other
University of Waikato: Science Learning Hub: Absolute Dating
Explains what absolute dating is as compared to relative dating and how they can work together. The characteristics of several different radiometric methods are compared. Includes three short videos and an interactive where students...
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of Natural History: Paleobiology: Absolute Dating
An explanation of radiometric or absolute dating of geological formations based on using the half-life of radioactive elements to figure out how old given rock layers are. A link on the left provides information about relative dating as...
Other
How to Date a Fossil
Radiometric dating, fission-track dating, and amino-acid dating are explained in this succinct site.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Historical Geology
In this interactive tutorial you will explore how geologists use clues in rocks to determine the order in which rocks formed. Learn how principles of radioactivity are used to assign actual ages to rocks. Students will explore fossils...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Age of Earth
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] How scientists have been able to determine the age of Earth.
US Geological Survey
The Numeric Time Scale
This is a good source for getting an in-depth description of using radioactive decay to measure the ages of rocks. In addition to describing the process of radiometric dating, this resource also includes a geologic time scale and four...
Curated OER
Smithsonian Institution Archives: Edith Kroupa
Austrian research chemist Edith Kroupa, 1934. The original caption dated September 18, 1934, reads: "While revolution upset Vienna, Miss Edith Kroupa, research chemist working with a new method of microchemical analysis in the laboratory...