PBS
How We Know The Earth Is Ancient
In astronomy we talk about billions of years like it’s no big deal. But how can we be sure about timescales so far beyond the capacity for human intuition? Our discovery of what we now call deep time is very recent - as recent as our...
PBS
When a Billion Years Disappeared
In some places, the rocks below the Great Unconformity are about 1.2 billion years older than those above it. This missing chapter in Earth’s history might be linked to a fracturing supercontinent, out-of-control glaciers, and maybe the...
SciShow
The Secrets of Ancient Earthquakes Revealed by Science
Did you know that nature contains clues that can uncover ancient earthquakes that occurred decades, or even centuries ago? Join us for a fascinating look into the world of ancient earthquakes, and see how yesterday's quakes compare to...
SciShow
4 Ways to Uncover Ancient Earthquakes
Earthquakes shake a lot of things up, but after decades or even centuries, it might be a little tough to figure out when or even where one may have happened. Luckily, nature has a few ways of letting us know.
SciShow
The Siberian Traps: A 250 Million Year Old Crime Scene
The event that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago might be the most famous mass extinction ever, but it's not the only one in Earth’s history, nor is it the worst... not by a long shot.
SciShow
The Past, Present, and Future of Carbon Dating | Compilation
Carbon dating is a lot more than just getting the age of a dinosaur bone. We can learn a lot about the world through its use, and it turns out, we have.
SciShow
Why Scientists Are Cooking Ancient Pots
Unlocking the mysteries of ancient ceramics is a bit complicated. Radiometric dating tells us the age of the clay, but when was it first shaped by a human? We can find out by blasting it with heat again!
Science Buddies
Random Math Test Generator in Scratch
Write a program to generate random math problems and automatically grade them.
Professor Dave Explains
Methods of Dating the Earth Part 2: Absolute Dating (Radiometric Dating)
We just learned about relative dating, but if you really want to calculate the age of a rock, absolute dating is what you need. This takes advantage of the presence of radioactive nuclides that decay at a reliable rate, so it is also...
Professor Dave Explains
Methods of Dating the Earth Part 1: Relative Dating
We've learned about all the enormous time spans that describe the billions of years in Earth's history, but how did we arrive at these dates? How can we know the age of the Earth? Let's learn about some dating methods, starting with...
Professor Dave Explains
Radiometric Dating: Carbon-14 and Uranium-238
When you read about the ages of certain ancient artifacts, or even the age of the earth itself, how do we know such numbers? How can we know that a fossil is precisely 250 million years old? The key technique here is radiometric dating....
Monterey Institute for Technology and Education
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Seamounts
Explore the geologic features called seamounts. This video explains where they are located and why they are inhabited with a great variety of organisms. An enrichment activity will challenge you to use radiometic dating to figure out the...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Radiometric Dating of a Rock
A look into how a scientist can tell the approximate age of a rock by using radiometric dating. [4:40]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Radiometric Dating
In this video segment from A Science Odyssey, scientists explain how Earth's age was determined by examining the radioactive rocks in Earth's crust.
Other
Radioactive Dating
Have you ever wondered how paleontologists and geologists determine the age of fossils or geologic events that occurred in the past? Explore the processes of radioactive decay and radioactive dating. The chemistry of half-lives of...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Dating Lava Flows on Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii
In this video segment adapted from NOVA, scientists search for carbonized remains of plants preserved in lava flows to find out how long it has taken rain forests on Hawaii to regenerate after a volcanic eruption.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Measuring Age on Earth: Potassium Argon (K Ar) Dating
Video lecture explores how K-Ar dating can be used to date very old volcanic rock and the things that might be buried in between. [10:35]
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Carbon 14 Dating 2
A video to explore how to use carbon 14 dating to investigate history of life on Earth.