Do you teach the history of the Earth, and are you looking for geologic time scale activities? I’m going to be completely transparent about this. I don’t believe the Earth is as old as scientists think it is. I’ve seen evidence that points to a younger earth. However, that doesn’t mean that I ignore the evidence that some scientists have collected regarding this matter. The more that you know (about all perspectives), the better!
Since most schools have this in the curriculum, you still have to bring the WOW Factor, even if it can be a touchy subject! Usually, those complex topics bring the WOW themselves!
In this post, I share some ideas to help your students become excited to learn more about this topic. Then, I share a lesson to help them dive deeper into learning about what the geologic time scale is. Finally, I share some WIDEN geologic time scale activities to extend their knowledge.
WONDER Geologic Time Scale Activities
WONDER activities are those that allow students to become excited to learn more about a topic! Students will become internally motivated to learn, which is the goal. Here are two WONDER geologic time scale activities to try in your classroom.
Post-It Note Discussion
I love a post-it note activity! Students do too!
So, for this one, here’s what you do:
- Give each student a post-it note.
- Ask them the question: “How old is the Earth?”.
- Have them write down their answer and place it on a designated spot in the room.
- You, or a student volunteer, can read out some of the answers. Are there any patterns?
This is a post-it note activity where student answers could really vary based on their background. This is always a great way to make sure that ALL students are heard. All of their opinions are important. This is a great way to have a conversation with your students about what scientists believe. Not all scientists believe the same things, although sometimes there is a larger consensus. Science has been wrong before, just saying.
Science is all about discovering the truth. We are constantly learning, gaining more evidence, and adjusting theories!
Earth Viewer
Another activity to get students interested in learning more about this topic is this EarthViewer Interactive.
Students have a chance to look at what a lot of scientists believe about a Warming Earth, an Ice Age Earth, aPaleo Earth, and an Ancient Earth. They have a chance to look different eons, eras, periods, etc.
It’s also a great discussion starter. How do scientists actually know what the Earth looked like this many years ago? We sure didn’t have satellite images!
Geologic Time Scale Interactive Lesson
After students become internally motivated to learn more about this topic, it’s time to dive into the lesson!
There are many thoughts and ideas on how old our Earth is, but currently, geologists believe that the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Their theory is based on evidence they have gathered by the methods they use to date rocks and fossils.
This interactive lesson dives into this. Students learn about how scientists date rocks, fossils, and events, eons, era, period, epochs, ages, and more!
There are also embedded activities where students can process what they just learned. This helps reduce student cognitive load. These include a KWL, four corners vocabulary, drag-and-drop activities, and more!
You can find this in the Bright in the Middle Shop.
You can also find this on TPT.
Geologic Time Scale Activities to WIDEN Student Knowledge
Time for some geologic time scale activities to expand your students’ knowledge!
Era Project
Looking for something interesting and fun to do after your students take notes on the geologic time scale? Looking for some geologic time scale project ideas?
This is a good one, and it’s easy too.
- Place your students into groups and assign them an era: Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, and Precambrian. If you want to go a little deeper, you can assign them a period.
- They should research geological events, changes in climate, major extinction events, life forms, potential adaptations, or any identifying special characteristics.
- Once they have all of this information about their assigned era or period, they can create a visual aid to present! This could be a poster, a speech, a brochure, a presentation, etc.
- Then, they can present it to the class!
Geologic Time Scale Activity
Another activity that is popular and effective for learning what the geologic time scale actually is is to create a geologic time scale timeline that is to scale!
This is so students can really see the magnitude of what scientists are thinking about Earth’s history.
I like this one by Flying Colors Science. It includes step-by-step instructions to create the timeline and then students can use the timeline to answer some analysis questions!
Help your students master science content!
[…] Geologic Time Scale […]