1.Lab Title: Making a Geologic Time Line
 
2. Purpose: To compare and contrast the relative lengths of the geologic eras and periods
 
3. Materials: calculator tape (about 5 m), meter stick, pencil and markers
 
4. Procedure: Obtain a piece of tape. On the right end of the tape, write the names of the persons in your group. Mark a line 10 cm from right and mark it with a Zero and label it PRESENT. Going left mark off 1 meter for each billion years, marking each line 1 billion years ago, 2 billion years ago, 3 billions years ago, 4 billion years ago and 5 billion years ago.
5. Draw a line for each date and label with the time.
Then lightly color the era with the indicated color:
Number of years ago
Event
Color

4.5 - 3.8 billion years ago

PreCambrian Time Begins

Leave White

3.8 - 2.5 billion years ago

Archeozoic Era

Leave White
2.5 billion -
570 million years ago

Proterozoic Era

Blue

570 - 225 million years ago

Paleozoic Era

Green

225 - 65 million years ago

Mesozoic Era

Orange

65 million years ago to present

Cenozoic Era

Yellow
6. Mark the 3 Periods of time in the Mesozoic Era ( p. 538-539 in the Earth Science text or P. 285 in Science connections text)

225-195 million

195-136 million
136-65 million

Triassic Period

Jurassic Period
Cretaceous Period
7. Add words or pictures to show following dates and events in time. (See Life column on p. 539 in Earth Science text)
 
Number of years ago
Event
4.6 billion
3.8 billion
3.3 billion
1.2 billion
600 million
500 million
490 million
430 million
400 million
325 million
225 million
180 million
150 million
136 million
80 million
65 million
50 million
40 million
3.5 million
2.3 million
1 Million
2 thousand
500
130
30
0
Origin of earth
Oldest known rocks
Oldest microfossils (algae)
First known animals
First sponges
First fish
First vertebrae
First land plants
First Amphibians
First reptiles
First birdlike creatures, first dinosaurs
First mammals
First birds
First flowering plants
Rocky Mountains rise
Dinosaurs became extinct
First horse
First elephants
Hominid footprints
First humans
Beginning of Ice Age
Beginning of our calendar, 0 A. D.
Columbus Sails from Spain
American Civil War
Astronauts land on moon
Present
8. Add to your timeline the date and name of impacts created by meteorites.
TEAM GRADE: EACH STUDENT WILL WRITE ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING ON LOOSELEAF PAPER. TURN IN THE 4 SETS OF ANSWERS AND THE TIMELINE.
9. Observe all known object impacts on the time line.
a) What do you observe about the completed time line?
b) Are there any patterns?
c) Do the meteorite impacts relate to any other events in the time line.
10. Conclusion: Answer the following.
a. Which 2 events on your tape are separated by the longest duration of geologic time?
By how many years are they separated?
b. Which event(s) were the most difficult to plot? Explain why.
c. From your tape, determine the duration of the Eras. (How long did each last?)
Archeozoic Era _____________
Proterozoic Era _____________
Paleozoic Era _____________
Mesozoic Era _____________
Cenozoic Era _____________
d. Dinosaurs lived only during the Mesozoic Era. If geologic time started 4.5 billion years
ago, during what percentage of time did dinosaurs exist? _____________
e. Since the first humans began 2.3 million years ago,
during what percentage of time has man existed? _____________
11. Questions: This lab brings the following questions to mind:
12. Opinion: I liked this activity because .......
I did not like this activity because .......
 
Please send feed back to: Mrs. McQuone on how this worked and suggested improvements or variations.