Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Curated OER
Geologic Time: Relative and Absolute Dating
Students 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.
Curated OER
Dating Sedimentary Strata
Students investigate how the age of sedimentary strata is determined. In this sedimentary strata lesson plan, students work through problems that show that geological history covers millions of years. They distinguish between relative...
Curated OER
Absolute and Relative Location
Second graders understand the difference between relative and absolute location using the grid map as an example of an absolute location. They observe a class map showing longitude and latitude lines and learn that they provide exact...
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
Absolute And Relative Location
Students create a map that takes someone from school to their home using both relative and absolute locations. They assume the person using the map is unfamiliar with the area.
Curated OER
Understanding Absolute Values
Students solve absolute value problems, In this algebra lesson plan, students discuss distance as they relate it to absolute values. They distinguish between negative and positive numbers inside of an absolute value bars and how the...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 2
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...
Curated OER
Relative Dating in Archaeology
Young scholars create a timeline that explains how ancient cultures used artifacts. In this Relative Dating in Archaeology lesson, students examine artifacts and draw conclusions about their origins. Then young scholars analyze...
Curated OER
Plotting A Hurricane Using latitude and Longitude
Students explore map and plotting skills by tracing the movement s of hurricanes through the Earth's systems. a hurricane map is developed from daily media reports.
Curated OER
VARVES: Dating Sedimentary Strata: Geology, Paleontological Patterns
Young scholars 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.
Curated OER
Geography/Current Events Project
Using the Balkan region as an example, fourth graders review the five themes of geography as a class. They identify the physical and human characteristics of a region before labeling the countries and landforms on a map. They then...
Curated OER
You Sank My Battleship
Students apply the concept of transformation to the game of battleship. In this algebra lesson, students relate their linear equations to how they would graph or set up their game pieces to win.
Curated OER
How Has Math Evolved?
Eighth graders pick a topic or person to research related to the history of mathematics. They brainstorm and create a concept map, using the multimedia software inspiration, about what they are researching and want to examine. They then...
Virginia Department of Education
Give or Take a Few
Young mathematicians extend their knowledge of rational numbers on a number line to graph inequalities by first using number cards to compare rational numbers. They finish by using similar reasoning to graph inequalities on a number line.
Curated OER
Examining the Fossil Record
Students create an evolutionary tree based on fossil morphology and their ages. For this fossil record lesson plan, students are given 23 pictures of fossil. They study their morphology and arrange the fossils by age and structures on a...
Curated OER
work in pairs for the activities of this lesson which include researching and identifying butterflies, writing, and a brief oral presentation.
Students explore the concepts of rdioactive decay and dating. They generate a radioactive decay table, use their data to plot a decay graph, develop the concept of half-life, and then use the graph to find the age of a mummified seal in...
Curated OER
Community and Colonization
Eighth graders explore the nature of the European colonization in the Americas. They compare how it relates to the inception of their community. Students identify the major players in America's colonization and explore the motivations...
Curated OER
Understanding the Geologic Timescale
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...
Virginia Department of Education
Analyzing and Interpreting Statistics
Use measures of variance to compare and analyze data sets. Pupils match histograms of data sets to their respective statistical measures. They then use calculated statistics to further analyze groups of data and use the results to make...
Curated OER
Cartography Project
A lesson involving mapping, the use of a compass, writing and following directions, and exploring the first two themes of geography is here for you. Learners create original maps that show the routes they take through their own...
Curated OER
Time Machine: Evolution, Geology
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.
![Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
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Milton J. Rubenstein Museum: Determining the Age of Rocks and Fossils [Pdf]
This set of activities from the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology has students investigating how relative dating and absolute dating methods are used to determine the age of rocks and fossils.
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas: Texas Memorial Museum: Understanding Geologic Time [Pdf]
A lesson plan containing two activities for middle schoolers to gain a better understanding of geologic time scale. The first activity allows students to get a visual of geologic time by role playing events in time on a football field....