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Earth Science Lesson Plans The Proterozoic Era
Students explore the Proterozoic Era. In this geologic time periods lesson, students examine the clock of eras charts and listen to a lecture regarding the era.
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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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How Insects Have Changed
Students work in groups to research the different geologic time periods and present their findings. They perform the insect collecting protocol, identify insects to the order level, and organize types of insects in order of appearance in...
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Time Machine: Evolution, Geology
Students are taken on a simulated "voyage" backward in time, to the beginning of our planet. They "witness" that beginning, the origin of life, and a number of key events from then to the present.
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Deep Time
Young scholars compare geologic time periods to the calendar year. They set up a live-action student timeline in the classroom.
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Science NetLinks: Fossils and Geologic Time
Students investigate the development of the geologic time scale. Also, to introduce them to the major time periods in earth's history, as well as to the role fossils play in helping us understand this history.
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Geologic Time Scale
Students research the geologic time scale. They create and recognize the importance of a geologic time line.
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Evolution and Geological Time
In this evolution activity, students review the geological time scale and how evolution has taken place over time. This activity has 13 fill in the blank questions.
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Project Geode
Young geologists attempt to predict the appearnace of a geode's internal structure based on how it looks from the outside, its mass, and its physical characteristics. In this geologly instructional activity, learners use scientific...
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Mesozoic Murals
Middle schoolers create a mural of one of the Mesozoic Periods. For 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...
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Assembling a Geologic History
Students combine information from several field labs to construct an overall geologic history of the local region. They are able to use published reports of the geologic history as they compile their own version.
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Making The Geologic Time Scale Real
Young scholars are assigned significant geologic events in Earth's history. They convert the date of the events into distances and then space themselves (on an outside playing field) away from other groups, to represent time between...
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Geologic cross section of Manhattan, NYC
Students draw an accurate geologic cross section by using a given data table. They relate the features of the cross section to geologic processes. Students then relate the characteristics of the bedrock to the architecture.
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Geologic History PowerPoint Follow Sheet-The Rules of the Game
In this geologic history worksheet, learners answer questions about the earth's history, about dating fossils, about layers of rocks and about unconformity.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
EarthViewer
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...
National Wildlife Federation
Quantifying Land Changes Over Time Using Landsat
"Humans have become a geologic agent comparable to erosion and [volcanic] eruptions ..." Paul J. Crutzen, a Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist. Using Landsat imagery, scholars create a grid showing land use type, such as urban,...
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Geologic Sequestration
Young scholars investigate how geologic sequestration reduces carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere. In this earth science instructional activity, students simulate oil mining in the lab. They write down their observations and...
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You Say You Want an Evolution?
Students estimate the number of living organisms they might find in their local environment. After researching the types of organisms that existed during various geologic time periods, students describe how life forms have changed over...
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Getting a Sense of Time
Students gain an appreciation for geologic and historic time. They gain a general amount of information of the development of hte Chicago area, with particular attention given to the role of the Chicago River. Students contruct a time...
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Relative Dating-Telling Time Using Fossils
Students 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. Students use bar graphs to...
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Blast It! (Learning About Copper)
Opening with background information on copper use and mining, this activity assesses junior geologists' reading comprehension. A map activity is available, but the map is not. There is a useful set of vocabulary matching cards and a...
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Dinosaurs
In this earth science instructional activity, 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...
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Happy Birthday, Earth!
Young scholars visualize the Earth's ecosystem at a specific time period and how Earth has changed over time. They create a detailed journal entry for a specific time period and create a birthday card to Earth.
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Be a "Fossil Detective" an Effective Tool in Earth Science Education
Students examine the geological time scale: the Earth is ancient; time can be divided into periods based on its fossil content.