Curated OER
Determining Age Of Rocks And Fossils
Students discuss together how to determine the relative age of each of the rock units in the block diagram (Figure 1). After students have decided how to establish the relative age of each rock unit, they should list them under the block.
BBC
Walking with Dinosaurs
Breath new life into your class's study of dinosaurs with this extensive collection of materials. Offering everything from a printable T-rex mask, word searches, and connect-the-dots activities to informational handouts, hands-on...
Curated OER
Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources: Mining in B.C.
Students explore energy by categorizing rocks. In this British Columbia geology lesson, students define many different vocabulary terms associated with mining such as sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic. Students utilize sample rock...
Curated OER
How Old Is Mike?
Students 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.
Curated OER
Luray Caverns - Rock Formation
Fifth graders conduct research on the geological formation Luray Caverns located in Luray, Virginia in preparation for a field trip to the caverns. They conduct Internet research, and answer worksheet discussion questions.
Curated OER
Sandwich Stratigraphy
Two activities are included in this resource. In the first, junior geologists model sedimentary rock layers, apply the Law of Superposition, and demonstrate folding and faulting of the Earth's crust. The model is technically a sandwich....
Curated OER
How Deep is the Ocean
Students predict and then analyze the layout of the tectonic plates that form the ocean's floor using mapping skills and Inquiry based problem solving, They compare the depth of various regions in the ocean with the geologic age to...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Deep History of Life on Earth
Take it all the way back! Young scientists discover the changes that took place from the time Earth became solid to present day through an interesting interactive. The resource guides users through key events that have shaped our world...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Finding the Crater
A mass extinction event caused by an impact usually leaves a crater. Scholars use data from 10 different sites around the world trying to determine where to look for the crater. They use data, listing the amount of various minerals to...
Curated OER
Origins: Earth Is Born
Students develop a timeline of all the major events involved in the formation of the Earth and the emergence of humans. In groups, they focus on a specific topic by watching a PBS program and taking notes. After the video, they list...
Curated OER
Using Rocks and Ores Worksheet
In this chemistry worksheet, students answer 15 short answer questions about rocks and ores. They explore write balanced chemical reactions from word equations given.
Curated OER
Dating Sedimentary Strata
Students investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata activity, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between relative and...
Curated OER
PATTERNS IN TIME
Learners build a realistic sense of geological time, seek clues of transition fossils and find them. In this investigative instructional activity students complete several activities and worksheets on fossils.
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Geocaching
Using GPS units, small groups participate in a scavenger hunt to find an object that you have hidden. They use coordinates for stopping points along a pre-planned path to get to the final cache. This is a terrific activity to include in...
Curated OER
Fossils!
Students explore what fossils are, how they are formed, what different types there are and why they are significant to both our present and past geology history. They participate in a hands on fossil observation of their choice and...
Curated OER
History's Thermometers
Ancient coral beds give scientists clues to past ocean temperatures in much the same way that tree rings indicate historical weather conditions. High school scientists examine coral oxygen isotope ratios and plot the data as a function...
Curated OER
Sampling Rocks
Here is a geology lesson which invites learners to explore a variety of rocks. They find rocks in the schoolyard and classify them according to size, color, and weight, then read the book Everybody Needs a Rock. Good lesson!
Curated OER
Take a Stab!
Your geology class practices taking core samples of a potato to examine the stratigraphy. This is a terrific modeling lesson that helps youngsters visualize strata that cannot be seen from the surface of the ground. The directions...
Baylor College
What's Is Soil Made Of?
It's time to roll up those sleeves and get a little dirty in the second lesson plan of this series on the science of food. Investigate where plants and animals get the minerals they need to live in this two-part exploration of soil....
Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: The Theory of Plate Tectonics
Find out if your class agrees with Ice Age: Continental Drift ... or if it's just a fun family movie! Class members research the theory of continental drift, examine evidence of plate tectonics, connect this information to engineering,...
NOAA
History's Thermometers
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...
American Museum of Natural History
Pterosaurs: The Card Game
Piecing together the past is a challenging endeavor. Learners get a taste of that challenge as they play a game that incorporates several components such as trophic levels, geological time periods, and catastrophic events. Pairs work to...
Curated OER
Mapping of the Earth's Past
Students create a scale model time linen of the Earth's 4.6 billion year history. They calculate a scale that can fit on a very long register tape then label each geologic era. They use text books to annotate each era with major geologic...
Curated OER
Be a "Fossil Detective" an Effective Tool in Earth Science Education
Learners examine the geological time scale: the Earth is ancient; time can be divided into periods based on its fossil content.