Curated OER
VARVES: Dating Sedimentary Strata: Geology, Paleontological Patterns
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.
Polar Trec
What Can We Learn from Sediments?
Varve: a deposit of cyclical sediments that help scientists determine historical climates. Individuals analyze the topography of a region and then study varve datasets from the same area. Using this information, they determine the...
Curated OER
How Do We Measure Absolute Time?-Geologic Clocks
In this absolute time worksheet, students define radiometric dating, tree rings and varves as means to measure absolute time. They are given information about each of these methods of dating.
Curated OER
Measuring Absolute Time
In this absolute time worksheet, students answer eleven questions about ways to measure the age of fossils. They define half-life, answer questions about radioactive dating, tree rings and varves.
Curated OER
Dating Sedimentary Strata
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...