page | 1 trip through earth's history unit4.pdftime in the geological time scale are of unequal...

Nitty Gritty Science ©2015

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Table of Contents: A Trip Through Earth’s Past

Description Page # Introduction 3 Section 1: Fossils 4 Fossil Cards: Set 1 – Color 5 Fossil Cards: Set 2 - Color 6 Fossil Cards: Set 1 – B&W 7 Fossil Cards: Set 1 – B&W 8 Answer Key 9 Quiz: Fossils 10 Section 2: Determining Age of Rocks 11 Index Fossils 12 Map Printable 13 Answer Key 14 Quiz: Determining Age of Rocks 15 Section 3: Geological Time Scale 16 Early Earth 17 Early Earth Cut-outs – Color 18 Early Earth Cut-outs – B&W 19 Answer Key 20 Quiz: Determining Age of Rocks 21 Section 4: Earth’s Eras 22 Eras of Earth’s History 23 Student Printable 24 Cut-outs B&W 25 Cut-outs – Color 26 Answer Key A 27 Answer Key B 28 Quiz: Earth’s Eras 29 Answer Key – Quizzes 30 Contact and Copyright Information 31 Teacher Notes – LARGE Print 32-36


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Section 1: Fossils

Description:

Students will need to classify 15 different cards into the proper fossil category: mold, cast, trace, carbon, petrified or preserved specimen.

Fossil cards (in both color and black and white) are provided along with a pocket template and labels. Answer key and mini-quiz are also included.


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Fossils

Introduction:

When organisms die, they are usually buried by sediment that slowly harden over time into rock and preserve the shape of the organism. Fossils found in rock include molds, casts, petrified fossils, carbon films and trace fossils. Some remains of organism are preserved if they happen to be trapped by amber, tar or ice. This activity has you observing and classifying fossils using the information you have learned.

Directions

1. Cut out all the images on the following pages along with the pocket template and labels.

2. Use the pocket template to make six different pockets and label each one with labels provided. Under each label, write the definition of each type of fossil. Paste each pocket into your Science Interactive Notebook.

3. Classify each image as either mold, cast, petrified fossil, carbon film, trace fossil or preserved remains and place them in the proper pocket.

4. Take it a Step Further: Research fossils online and find an example of each type of fossil to put in each pocket. Remember to cite your source on the back of the image.

Fossils

Introduction:

When organisms die, they are usually buried by sediment that slowly harden over time into rock and preserve the shape of the organism. Fossils found in rock include molds, casts, petrified fossils, carbon films and trace fossils. Some remains of organism are preserved if they happen to be trapped by amber, tar or ice. This activity has you observing and classifying fossils using the information you have learned.

Directions

1. Cut out all the images on the following pages along with the pocket template and labels.

2. Use the pocket template to make six different pockets and label each one with labels provided. Under each label, write the definition of each type of fossil. Paste each pocket into your Science Interactive Notebook.

3. Classify each image as either mold, cast, petrified fossil, carbon film, trace fossil or preserved remains and place them in the proper pocket.

4. Take it a Step Further: Research fossils online and find an example of each type of fossil to put in each pocket. Remember to cite your source on the back of the image.


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Answer Key:

Mold: C, M

Cast: A, L, N

Trace: F, D, J

Petrified: B, H

Carbon Film: E, K, O

Preserved Remains: G, I


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Section 2: Determining Age of Rocks

Description:

Students will understand the geologists using index fossils to determine age of layers or rock. They will be given ‘sites” of excavation and will need to use key and layers of rock to help them answer the questions.

Student printable is offered along with an answer key and mini-quiz.


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Index Fossils

Index fossils are useful because they tell the relative ages of the rock layers in which they occur. To be useful as an index fossil, the fossil must be widely distributed, and it must have only existed for a brief period of time.

Directions:

1. Cut out the strips below and fold each one fan style along the solid lines. Each square represents a rock layer that was uncovered at an “excavation site”.

2. Paste the bottom tab of each strip to the matching “site” location on the map.

3. Use the rock layers, index fossils and the fossil key to help you answer the questions on the following page.

4. Paste completed map and questions in your Science Interactive Notebook.


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1. W

hich

laye

r is

the

olde

st r

ock

layer

? E

xplain.

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2. W

hat

exca

vatio

n sit

e was

pro

bably

cove

red

by w

ater

the

long

est?

Ex

plain.

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3. Give

one

poss

ibilit

y why

dino

saur

fos

sils

are

not

foun

d at

site

C.

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4. W

hich

laye

rs m

ay h

ave

form

ed a

t th

e sa

me

time

as la

yer

B?

Exp

lain.

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5. W

hy h

ave

no f

ossils

been

fou

nd in

laye

rs A

, K o

r N?

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Answer Key

1. Layer I – it is below the rock layer that has the trilobite index fossils (Layers D, H, Q)

2. Site C – this site has more layers that represent fossils that are found under the water.

3. Answers will vary but may include – rock layers containing dinosaur fossils have eroded away, certain dinosaurs were not found since they never lived there; site was covered by water during the time certain dinosaurs existed..

4. Layers L and O since these layers have matching index fossils as found in layer B.

5. Fossils are unable to form in extrusion, or lava that hardens on the surface.


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Section 3: Geological Time Scale

Description:

Students will need to research and read about the Earth when it was created 4.6 billion years ago and compare it’s atmosphere, continents and oceans to that of the Earth in later Precambrian years (600 million years after Earth was formed).

I’ve included a color version and a black and white version, along with an answer key and a mini-quiz.


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Early Earth Introduction:

During the first several hundred million years of Precambrian Time, an atmosphere, oceans and continents began to form on Earth. Early Earth was nothing as we know it today, In this activity you will compare and contrast the atmosphere, ocean and continents of early Earth to that of Earth during later Precambrian Time.

Directions:

1. Cut out the Earth diagram along the dotted lines. Be careful to cut ONLY on dotted lines so flaps open.

2. Paste Earth into your Science Interactive Notebook using outside edge of Earth diagram and in area where it is noted to place glue.

3. Research the conditions of the Earth 4.6 billion years ago versus conditions 600 million years after Earth formed.

4. Write information about Earth’s surface under the appropriate flaps to compare the different conditions of the atmosphere, oceans and continents.

Early Earth Introduction:

During the first several hundred million years of Precambrian Time, an atmosphere, oceans and continents began to form on Earth. Early Earth was nothing as we know it today, In this activity you will compare and contrast the atmosphere, ocean and continents of early Earth to that of Earth during later Precambrian Time.

Directions:

1. Cut out the Earth diagram along the dotted lines. Be careful to cut ONLY on dotted lines so flaps open.

2. Paste Earth into your Science Interactive Notebook using outside edge of Earth diagram and in area where it is noted to place glue.

3. Research the conditions of the Earth 4.6 billion years ago versus conditions 600 million years after Earth formed.

4. Write information about Earth’s surface under the appropriate flaps to compare the different conditions of the atmosphere, oceans and continents.


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Answer Key – answers will vary but may include:

Early Earth

Atmosphere

hydrogen and helium Oceans

Earth’s surface too hot All water evaporates

Continents

Earth’s rock started cooling and hardening Less dense rock at surface formed landmasses

Late Precambrian Earth

Atmosphere

Volcanic eruptions released carbon dioxide, water vapor, and nitrogen Oceans

Earth cools, water vapor condenses Rain begins to fall forming oceans

Continents

Old continents break apart New continents form as a result of continental drift


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Section 4: Earth’s Eras

Description:

The final activity for this chapter is helping students breakdown the different eras and periods after the Precambrian Era. Students will also enjoy adding cutouts to their football field analogy of the geological time scale to represent the Age of Fishes, Age of Reptiles and Age of Mammals.

A table of dates, student cut-outs (color and black and white), a teacher answer key and a mini-quiz are included for this concept.


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Eras of Earth’s History Introduction:

Earth’s history can be divided into eras and periods of a geological time scale which is helpful for placing events of disappearance of some organisms and the appearance of others. Because certain events did not occur at regular intervals, the boundaries between the units of time in the geological time scale are of unequal length. For this activity, you will create a geological time line using a football field, which has a length of 100 yards.

Directions:

1. Table 1 below shows approximately how long ago major divisions of Earth’s geological time sca le began. Using the Yard Conversion given, calculate the length of each time period in yards, knowing that 1 million years = .18 years (the first two have been done for you).

2. Using the information you calculated, label the football field by starting at the left (544 million years ago) and move toward the right (present). Mark the beginning and end of each era and period in the table – being sure to label each. Use different colors to separate the eras.

3. Finally, cut out the goal posts and images that represent the Age of Fishes, the Age of Reptiles and the Modern Mammals and fold on the dotted lines. Cut slits, where indicated on football field and place goal posts and images in the proper place of the diagram. Paste completed Geological Time Line in your Science Interactive Notebook.

Table 1


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Geological Time Line Cut-outs



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Answer Key:


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Question: Are there different types of fossils? If so, what are they?

FOSSILS

fossils – preserved remains or traces of living things and are formed when living things die and are buried by sediments Fossils found in rocks include: mold – hollow area in the sediment which shows the shape of an organism or a part of an organism cast – solid copy of the shape of an organism petrified fossil – fossils in which minerals replace all or part of an organism carbon film – extremely thin coating on rock trace fossil – provide evidence of the activities of ancient organisms Some processes preserve the remains of organisms with little or no change such as those organisms that become trapped in tar, ice or amber paleontologist – scientists who study, collect and classify fossils Information gathered by paleontologists is called the fossil record which provides evidence of: history of life on Earth groups of organisms changing over long periods of time Earth’s past climate past environments and changes in Earth’s surface The fossil record provides evidence to support the theory of evolution evolution – gradual change in living things over long periods of time scientific theory – well-test concept that explains a wide range of observations extinct – when an organism no longer exists and never will again


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Question: Why do geologists study index fossils?

DETERMINING AGE OF ROCKS

One way to determine the age of a fossil is by finding the age of the rock it was found in. relative age of a rock – age compared with ages of other rocks absolute age of a rock – number of years since the rock formed Law of Superposition – in horizontal sedimentary rock layers the oldest layer is at the bottom; each higher layer is younger than the layer below it To determine relative age of rocks, geologists also study the following: extrusions – lava that hardens (igneous rocks) on the surface intrusions – magma that cools and hardens into a mass of igneous rocks beneath the surface fault – break in Earth’s crust which is always younger than the rock it cuts through unconformity – gap in the geological record where some rock layers have been lost because of erosion Certain fossils, called index fossils, must be widely distributed and represent a type of organism that existed only briefly in order to help geologists tell the relative ages of the rock layers in which they occur. Geologist use radioactive dating to determine the absolute ages of rocks, by first determining the amount of a radioactive element in a rock. element – all the atoms of a particular type of matter are the same radioactive decay – process by which one unstable element breaks down into another element that is stable half-life – time required for half of the unstable element to decay


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Question: What are the different units of the geological time scale?

GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE

Earth’s history is divided into units of time that make up a geological time scale which is divided into four major subdivisions: Eons – longest subdivisions; based on abundance of fossils Eras – marked by significant worldwide changes in the types of fossils present in rock Periods – based on types of existing life globally at a particular time Epochs – divided periods characterized by differences in life forms Geological time begins with a long span of time called Precambrian Time, which covers about 88 percent of Earth’s history and ended about 544 million years ago. Scientists hypothesize that Earth formed roughly 4.6 billion years ago. During the first several hundred million years of Precambrian Time, an atmosphere, oceans and continents began to form. During Precambrian Time (4.6 billion – 544 million years ago): very few fossils remain from this time Precambrian rocks have been buried, causing fossils to be changed by heat and pressure most Precambrian organisms lacked hard parts Earliest life form to appear was cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae which added oxygen to the atmosphere through photosynthesis The time between Precambrian Time and the present is divided into three long units called eras: Paleozoic Era Mesozoic Era Cenozoic Era Eras are divided into periods which are named by geologists from places around the world where they found certain rocks and fossils.


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Question: What era, period and epoch do humans live in?

EARTH’S ERAS

The Phanerozoic Eon is characterized by three eras: Paleozoic era – oldest era divided into six periods Mesozoic era – middle era divided into three periods Cenozoic era – youngest era divided into two periods PALEOZOIC ERA – 544 million years ago to 245 million years ago Early Paleozoic consists of the Cambrian and Ordovician periods often called Age of Invertebrates continents covered by large, shallow inland seas no life existed on land; Ordovician period ended with mass extinction Middle Paleozoic consists of Silurian and Devonian periods often called Age of Fishes some invertebrates lived on land (cockroaches/dragonflies) continents colliding forming mountain ranges Late Paleozoic consists of Carboniferous and Permian periods Age of Amphibians (reptiles evolved from amphibians) continental collisions led to formation of Pangaea largest mass extinction occurred, reason under debate MESOZOIC ERA – 245 million to 65 million years ago often called the Age of the Reptiles contained the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods dinosaurs dominated, small mammals and birds appeared flowering plants (angiosperms) appeared Pangaea separated into continents, oceans began to form mass extinction from large meteorite impact scientists believe CENOZOIC ERA – 65 million to present Early in Tertiary period, India collided with Asia to form Himalayas, Africa and Europe collided to form Alps; Cascades and Sierra Nevadas began to form in North America new grasses and flowering plants dominated land mammals continued to evolve Homo sapiens, or humans appeared about 400,000 years ago – we live in the Holocene epoch of the Quaternary period

page | 1 trip through earth's history unit4.pdftime in the geological time scale are of unequal...

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