GEOL 120 NAMES: ____________________________
GEOLOGIC TIME DATE:
1. Predict: Discuss with your partner how you want to arrange the events on the timeline below. Once you have
arrived at a consensus, label the timeline with the following events:
Homo sapiens appear
Vertebrates appear
Dinosaurs appear
Dinosaurs go extinct
First land plants
2. Explain why you placed the events where you did along the timeline:
Background
The Earth is 4.6 Billion years old, or 4,600,000,000 years old. The scientific basis for this age is from the
radioactive decay of elements in the rocks on Earth and in meteorites that crash to Earth’s surface. Zircon
crystals from Australia allows scientists to analyze the amount of radioactive elements in the mineral to
determine how long the mineral has been solid. This indicates when the first Earth rocks crystallized from
magma. Similar analysis of meteorites give scientists a slightly older age, indicating that most matter in the
universe are a similar age.
Considering that we sometimes find an hour of class feels endless and a spring break vacation goes way too
quickly, it is hard for humans to imagine the scale of Earth’s history. In this activity, you will estimate the order
and spacing of events in Earth’s history and evaluate how that compares to what scientists have learned about
the timing of geologic events.
3. In the prediction, you should have discussed the order and spacing of 5 events on a timeline. Now, we will
add a few more events. Place the events in order with the oldest on bottom and youngest on top.
Your order
Random order
First mammals
First single celled life
Last ice age ends
First land plants
First dinosaurs
Homo sapiens
Flowering plants
Oldest rocks
Extinction of the dinosaurs
Abundant mammals
First Hominid
Ice Age begins
First vertebrates
Oxygen Rich atmosphere
4. Explain why you placed the events in this order. What decisions did you make about what came first or last?
5. Obtain a meter stick and sticky note flags. Label each sticky note flag with one event. Starting with the order
of events you identified in #3, decide as a group how to space the events on the meter stick. Hold the meter stick
vertically and place the oldest event near the bottom of the meter stick (at zero) and the youngest event near
top of the meter stick.
6. Explain why you placed the events in the spacing you did. Are there big gaps or are the events evenly
spaced? Why?
Have the TA or instructor check that you have arranged the events and explained why _______
5. Observe: Obtain a timeline sheet and attach it to your meter stick. Leave the flags in place!!! Compare the
order and spacing of events your meter stick to the arrangement of geologic events based on scientific
consensus.
Describe some of the major differences between the scientific arrangement and your arrangement:
Differences in Order of Events Differences in Spacing of Events
7. Explain: Based on what your learned in this activity, label the timeline with the following events:
Homo sapiens appear
Vertebrates appear
Dinosaurs appear
Dinosaurs go extinct
First land plants
8. How has the ordering on #7 changed since your prediction?