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...

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

Learners 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...

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...

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.

Students build a realistic sense of geological time, seek clues of transition fossils and find them.  In this investigative lesson students complete several activities and worksheets on fossils. 

Students use fossil range charts to explain relative dating. They graph for ammonites, marine organisms that went extinct at the same time as dinosaurs.

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...

Young scholars 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 the...

Students investigae using radioactive decay to determine geologic age.

Students read about and complete question activities for the topic of relative dating. In this relative dating lesson, students read information for the topic and then complete two activities to further their understanding of geologic...

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.

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 learn basic geological concepts while researching how ice age floods sculpted the plateau of the Columbia Basin. They synthesize their learning by creating annotated illustrations of the geological principles they studied.

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

High schoolers investigate relative and absolute dating; determine the difference between the two dating systems; and apply this knowledge by creating a geologic timetable of their own.

West of the West's documentary Arlington Springs Man and a two-page scientific article about the same topic provide the text for a reading comprehension exercise that asks individuals to craft a one page summary of information gathered...

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...

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...

Students investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata lesson, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between relative and...

Seventh graders study elapsed time, radioactive decay and half-life.  In this time machine lesson 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...