Students design, construct and interpret a model of geologic time and investigate change through geologic time.

A beautiful tapestry map of North America is examined by geology masters. The map incorporates the topography and geology of different regions. You can purchase printed copies or a large poster of the map, or if you have a computer lab...

Learners investigate the history of Earth by creating a geologic time scale.  In this Earth History lesson plan, students practice sequencing events in their life as a way to get familiar with creating a time scale.  Learners...

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...

Students identify and analyze how the geologic time scale was developed by investigating 11 periods of time and the vast expanse of time of the Earth's existence. They study their period, determine the important factors indicative to...

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...

After five class sessions, young scientists will be able to identify common rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. This plan involves hands-on activities, includes various handouts and worksheets, and requires there to be...

Students investigae using radioactive decay to determine geologic age.

Middle schoolers 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.

Students count the number of varves (annual layers of sediment) in shale billets, taken from the Green River Formation in Wyoming. The count is then extended to reflect the entire 260 meters of sediments where the billets originated.

Students use fossil leaves and a mathematical formula to study climate change. For this climate change and fossil lesson plan, students determine the differences in temperatures during two different times during the Cenozoic era using...

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

Seventh graders study elapsed time, radioactive decay and half-life.  In this time machine instructional activity students complete several activities and view a presentation. 

Young geologists get a glimpse beneath the earth's surface in this plate tectonics investigation. After first learning about the different layers of the earth and the constant movement of its plates, young...

Students identify and describe rocks that contain records of the earth's history and explain how they were formed. They formulate questions about and identify needs and problems related to objects and events in the environment, and...

Students investigate the factors affecting the size of a crater. In this space science lesson, students collect data from the activity and graph them. They explain how velocity of impact relate to crater size.

Students examine rock strata for the distribution, deposition, and age of sedimentary rock. They describe rock types in a variety of outcrops and construct a regional stratigraphy.

Young scholars experience an archaeological dig exploring off the shore of Black Hawk Island and Wisconsin River. They study in the same place where the infamous Dell House once stood. Dell House and its historical significance is...