History of Earth: Geologic Eras of Time

1. History of Earth:Geologic Eras of Time Mrs. Virginia Seng Cherokee High School Teach21 Capstone Project 9th Grade Honors Biology 11th & 12th Grade Earth Systems Science

2. Index

3. Introduction The grand, expansive history of our planet covers some 4.6 BILLION YEARS! The scope & scale of such a timeframe can be mind boggling, but our Earth’s history of Biology, Geology & Climate change over the eons is amazing and well worth understanding! Are you READY to learn MORE?!

4. Task In this WebQuest, you will be working in teams, each member with specific roles, and your group will pick one of the Era’s of Geologic Time to study in more detail. At the conclusion of this WebQuest, our culminating activity will include an opportunity for your group to shine as experts on your chosen ‘Era’ of Geologic Time. We will construct a scale model of Geologic Time on the Football Field & your group will display & explain your Era’s highlights on the Timeline!!

5. Process • Steps in this WebQuest Activity: • Day 1: After an introduction to this capstone project, students will complete an individual online interactive tutorial about the Geologic Time Scale & key highlights in the Earth’s development, and will then complete the form provided.See Word.doc entitled ‘Check-In #1: A Walk Through Geologic Time Webquest’, posted on Mrs. Seng’s school web page. • Day 2: Groups of 3 to 4 students will be formed & each group will select a particular Geologic Era or Time Period from the list provided by the teacher. Groups will then confer about and assign the 4 key roles for members (Biologist, Botanist, Geologist & Meteorologist) See Word.doc entitled ‘Roles of group members for Geologic Time WebQuest’, posted on Mrs. Seng’s school web page.Begin researching info on Resource links provided and record Era/Period info on note-taking forms provided (each ‘Expert’ will focus on his/her own specialty, so ‘divide and conquer’). Groups continue research phase and begin work on entering info on PowerPoint template for their groups info.See PowerPoint entitled ‘Geologic Time WebQuest – Team PPT Template’, posted on Mrs. Seng’s school web page.

6. Process, continued • Day 3:Groups complete research phase and complete work on entering info (typed info content and any pictures you wish to include (2 pictures inserted for each ‘expert’s slide’!) on PowerPoint template for their info.Each group must also print off their PowerPoint Slides for use in Day 4’s activity (Call Mrs. Seng over BEFORE printing – she needs to oversee that! We’ll use white cardstock & color printing.). See PowerPoint entitled ‘Geologic Time WebQuest – Team PPT Template’. Each group’s slides will be posted on a tall wooden stake for use on Day 4. • Day 4:Our class will construct a scale model of Geologic Time on the Football Field & your group will display your Era’s highlights on the Timeline.Your printed PowerPoint Slides of completed, required info from each expert’s role will be your group’s ‘highlight displays’ for our ‘History of Earth’ Time Line. We look forward to your presentations of information as you instruct us further about your Era/Period!

7. Online Resources • This is NOT an exhaustive listing – this is meant to get you started in your research! Feel free to utilize appropriate search engines for both text-based information and for images, pictures or clip art to insert. • Geologic Time Scale: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/education/explorations/tours/geotime/guide/geologictimescale.html • http://www.agiweb.org/news/evolution/geologictime.html • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html • Overview of Earth History: http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/past/geologic_time.html&edu=high • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/beta/evolution/brief-history-life.html • Precambrian Time Links: • ProterozoicEra: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/proterozoic.html • ArchaeanEra: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/archaean.html • Hadean Era: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/hadean.html

8. Online Resources • This is NOT an exhaustive listing – this is meant to get you started in your research! Feel free to utilize appropriate search engines for both text-based information and for images, pictures or clip art to insert. • Paleozoic Era Links: • http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/hist_paleozoic.html&edu=mid • http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/hist_paleozoic.html&edu=high • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleozoic/paleozoic.html • MezozoicEra Links: • http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/hist_mesozoic.html • http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/hist_mesozoic.html&edu=high • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/mesozoic/mesozoic.html • Cenozoic Era Links: • http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/geology/hist_cenozoic.html • http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/hist_cenozoic.html&edu=high • http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cenozoic/cenozoic.html

9. Evaluation (Rubric)

10. Teacher’s Page • Grade Level: 9th Grade Honors Biology & 12th Grade Earth Systems • Standards: Biology – SBS 5b “Explain the history of life in terms of biodiversity, ancestry, and the rates of evolution.” (*The millions of different species of plants, animals and microorganisms that live on Earth today are related by descent from common ancestors; *The great diversity of organisms is the result of more than 3.5 billion years of evolution that has filled every available niche with life forms) Biology – SBS 5c “Explain how fossil and biochemical evidence support the theory.” (*Modern classification systems are based upon biochemical and genetic evidence that indicates evolutionary relationships; *Evolution explains the number of different life forms we see, similarities in anatomy and chemistry and sequence of changes in fossils formed over more than a billion years; Molecular evidence supports anatomical evidence from fossils about the sequence of descent.)

11. Standards: (cont.) • Earth Science Standards (12th Grade / Earth Systems) - SES4 “Students will understand how rock relationships and fossils are used to reconstruct the Earth’s past.” • a. Describe and apply principles of relative age (superposition, original horizontality, cross-cutting relations, and original lateral continuity) and describe how unconformities form. • b. Interpret the geologic history of a succession of rocks and unconformities. • c. Apply the principle of uniformitarianism to relate sedimentary rock associations and their fossils to the environments in which the rocks were deposited. • d. Explain how sedimentary rock units are correlated within and across regions by a variety of methods (e.g., geologic map relationships, the principle of fossil succession, radiometric dating, and paleomagnetism). • e. Use geologic maps and stratigraphic relationships to interpret major events in Earth history (e.g., mass extinction, major climatic change, tectonic events).

12. Standards: (cont.) • Earth Science Standards (12th Grade / Earth Systems) - SES6 “Students will explain how life on Earth responds to and shapes Earth systems.” • d. Describe how fossils provide a record of shared ancestry, evolution, and extinction that is best explained by the mechanism of natural selection. • e. Identify the evolutionary innovations that most profoundly shaped Earth systems: photosynthetic prokaryotes and the atmosphere; multicellular animals and marine environments; land plants and terrestrial environments. • Earth Science Standards (12th Grade / Earth Systems): • Major Concepts/Skills: • Geologic time and correlation • Earth and life history • Science Concepts/Skills to Maintain: • Interprets graphs, tables, and charts • Organizes data into graphs, tables, and charts • Analyzes scientific data via calculations and inference • Uses models • Asks quality questions • Uses technology