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Lesson Planet
Can you imagine Washington DC and London as close neighbors occupying the same continent? Learners will be fascinated as they step back in time and discover the evolution of the earth's continents and oceans from 4.5 billion years ago to the present day. This incredible app not only illustrates the shifting continents based on the most recent scientific research, but also includes loads of data on the progression of the earth's temperature, day length, solar luminosity, biodiversity, and condition of the atmosphere.
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59 Downloads
CCSS:
Adaptable
Concepts
Additional Tags
App Overview
Main Features
- Identify modern cities' place on the globe over the past 500 million years
- Interactive globe with ability to zoom into any location
- Details on geologic eons, eras, and periods
- Side-by-side chart comparisons of Earth's carbon dioxide, oxygen, temperature, day length, luminosity, and biodiversity throughout history
- View major geological and biological events, mass extinctions, impact events, and fossils
Three Main Timeline Views
- Phanerozoic (default): 540 million years
- Deep History: 4.6 billion years
- Modern: 100 years
Mini In-Depth Lessons
- Greenhouse Effect
- Mass Extinctions
- Oxygen and Animal Size
- Origin of Eukaryotes
- Oxygenation of the Planet
- Evidence of Early Photosynthesis
- Life and Chemical Cycling
- Geological Carbon Cycle
- Plate Tectonics
Curator Rating
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Adherence to task
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Worth the money
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Fun factor
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Scaffolding of learning
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User safety
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Control and feedback
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How techie do I need to be?
Novice
Instructional Ideas
- Have students examine the app as the start of an inquiry-based project or assignment (i.e. What caused the landscape to shift in this way? What hypotheses can you make regarding the Earth's evolving climate? Is there a relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide/oxygen concentration in the atmosphere?)
- As you study plate tectonics or the relative brevity of human history in comparison to the history of the earth, use this app as a visual supplement to your lectures
Classroom Considerations
- Pupils should begin with a foundational understanding of elements in the earth's atmosphere and the geologic time scale prior to using this app
Pros
- Includes detailed tutorial videos
- Intuitive, user-friendly interface
- Large collection of data in one app, presented in multiple formats
Cons
- None