Instructional Video

How Old Is The Earth?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet

How do you put 4.5 billion years into terms that young scholars can understand? Use your arms! Examine just how long our Earth has been around in a short video. The content includes the appearance of single-celled, then multicellular organisms, in Earth's more recent history. The narrator presents a very reproducible demonstration using the distance between his hands stretched wide.

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Instructional Ideas
  • The versatile video works in a space science unit as well as an evolution unit
  • Have pupils construct a timeline as the narrator presents the content, then compare it to a timeline showing different periods in Earth's history
Classroom Considerations
  • Show younger scientists a diagram of when the organisms discussed in the video first appeared to help them relate
  • This video is hosted on YouTube
Pros
  • Illustrated organisms help the class trace the path of evolution over time
  • The narrator's use of the span of his arms is simple and very relatable
Cons
  • None