LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

About this resource

Appropriate grades
8
Subjects
science (geology), thinking skills (information literacy, research skills)
Provider
American Association for the Advancement of Science

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In this lesson, students study the development of the geologic time scale, the major time periods in earth's history, as well as to the role fossils play in helping us understand this history. Students use the online booklet, “Fossils, Rocks, and Time” to explore geologic history, age dating, plate tectonics, timelines, and fossils. This activity also how the kinds of animals and plants found as fossils change over time. Science NetLinks provides links to the online booklet, questions for research and discussion, and links to several other lesson plans on the topic. This lesson plan also contains links to a geologic time activity on the Exploring the Environment website, the virtual geology wing from the Museum of Paleontology website, and an activity in which they create a personal timeline.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grade 8

  • Goal 5: The learner will conduct investigations and utilize appropriate technologies and information systems to build an understanding of evidence of evolution in organisms and landforms.
    • Objective 5.01: Interpret ways in which rocks, fossils, and ice cores record Earth's geologic history and the evolution of life including:
      • Geologic Time Scale.
      • Index Fossils.
      • Law of Superposition.
      • Unconformity.
      • Evidence for climate change.
      • Extinction of species.
      • Catastrophic events.