Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Adventures at Dry Creek
This educational module enables learners (5-12) to experience ongoing research of University of California paleontologists studying about life in Montana 60-70 million years ago. It gives students the opportunity to experience the...
Open Curriculum
Open Curriculum: Studying the History of Life
This in-depth article illustrates the concept of geologic time, and helps the learner understand why fossils are rare.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Fourth Grade Science: Earth Science: Relative Ages of Rocks
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Looks at how stratigraphy can be used to determine the relative ages of rocks, how unconformities occur, ways to match rock layers in different areas, and how...
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: What Can We Tell From the Fossil Record?
Find out what the fossil record tells scientists about the geologic and biological history of the Earth.
PBS
Nova: A Brief History of Earth
This timeline is a good resource if you are looking for brief descriptions of the geologic periods. Descriptions include pictures of common organisms for each period and the range of time covered by each period.
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Learning Lab: Prehistoric Climate Change and Why It Matters Today
A slideshow will introduce the process of climate change that the earth has experienced since the beginning of time. Discover "leaf margin analysis" which scientists use while studying fossils to determine the temperatures they were...
New York Times
New York Times: Science
[Free Registration/Login Required] The New York Times maintains daily coverage of the latest in environmental news, including geology, global warming, wildlife and earthquakes.
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Chaco Canyon: Observation: How Old Is It?
How is time read on the stone of the Chaco Canyon? Find out systems geologists have for dating rocks and fossils.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Rock Cycle
Through five lessons, students are introduced to all facets of the rock cycle. Topics include rock and mineral types, material stresses and weathering, geologic time and fossil formation, the Earth's crust and tectonic plates, and soil...
Other
Fossil Museum: Paleobiology
This table is an overview of the appearance and extinction of major groups of organisms through geologic time.
Curated OER
The Virtual Fossil Museum: Fossils Across Geological Time and Evolution
Picture of the fossil Leanchoilia superlata from the Phylum Arthropoda recovered from Burgess Shale.
Climate Literacy
Clean: A Fossil Thermometer
In this activity, students calculate temperatures during a time in the geologic record when rapid warming occurred using a well known method called 'leaf-margin analysis.' Students determine the percentage of the species that have leaves...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: American Field Guide: Relative Dating Telling Time Using Fossils
This website integrates video footage and information with lesson plans and activities to teach students about the concept of relative dating. Students will graph a range chart for ammonites, determine the geologic age for several rocks,...
EL Education
El Education: Get a Clue
This nonfiction children's book was created by 1st grade students at the Genesee Valley Community Charter School in Rochester, New York, as part of a learning expedition on fossils and local geological history. The expedition consisted...
Other
Prehistoric Planet: Rock Layers: Timeline of Life on Earth
Offers an easy to understand explanation of the earth's layers and the fossils we find in each layer. It explains how these are interpreted by scientists to represent the evolution of animal and plant life through the geological eras.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Geo Logic: The Big Five Mass Extinctions
Using GEOLogic puzzles, students are asked to match the five largest mass extinction events with their relative dates, approximate duration, and severity based on clues given from various perspectives.
Curated OER
Agi: Evolution and the Fossil Record
The American Geological Institute has done a great job defining and explaining evolution in this online booklet. Darwin, fossils, natural selection, and change over time are some of the concepts that are covered. Make sure to see the...
Curated OER
Agi: Evolution and the Fossil Record
The American Geological Institute has done a great job defining and explaining evolution in this online booklet. Darwin, fossils, natural selection, and change over time are some of the concepts that are covered. Make sure to see the...