TCSS Earth Systems
Unit 3 – Earth History Information
Georgia Performance Standards:
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).
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.
Purpose/Goal(s): Students will understand how rock relationships and fossils are used to reconstruct the
Earth’s past.
Content Map: Unit 3 – Earth History Content Map
Prerequisites: Unit 3 – Earth History Middle School Standards
Unit Length: Approximately 20 days
Click on the links below for resources by Concept:
Concept 1: Fossils
Concept 2: Rock Record
TCSS Earth Systems Earth History Unit Information
Concept, Essential
Question(s), and
Standard(s)
Concept 1: Fossils
EQ1: What are some of
the methods that
scientists use to learn
about the Earth’s long
history?
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.
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
Vocabulary
Essential*
Ancestry
Cross-Cutting Relations
Evolution
Extinction
Fossils
Fossil Succession
Geologic Map
Natural Selection
Original Horizontality
Original Lateral
Continuity
Paleomagnetism
Radiometric Dating
Sedimentary
Superposition
Uniformitarianism
Supplemental**
Eon
Epoch
Era
Geologic time scale
Mass Extinction
Period
Precambrian
Cross-Cutting
Relationship
Principle of Inclusions
Original Horizontality
Relative-Age Dating
Superposition
Uniformitarianism
Absolute-Age Dating
Half-life
Resources [Back to Top]
PowerPoints and Notes:
 Fossils and Natural Selection
 Determining the Age of Rocks
 Geologic Time and Earth’s Biological History
 Relative Dating
 Uniformitarianism
 The Fossil Record and Geologic Time Scale
 Reading the Rock Record
Animations and Videos:
 Animation Fossil Formation (time 3:33)
 What is Relative Dating? (time 8:06)
Handouts and Activities:
 Time Line Activator: For this activity you will make a
timeline of your life. This will allow students to grasp the idea
of time in sequential order.
 Cross Cutting Relationship Handouts: This handout allows
students to practice the concept of cross cutting relationships.
Should be used after teaching the concept.
 Relative Dating Worksheet: This handout allows you to
practice the concepts of Uniformitarianism, Superposition,
Original Horizontality, and Cross-cutting relationships. Great
way to have them practice the concepts
 Relative Age Dating Principles: Students are asked to use the
principles of cross-cutting relationships and superposition
determine the age of craters.
 Unit One Worksheet Geology: Packet could be used
throughout course. For the purposes of this unit you would
want to use pages 5-9 to assess their knowledge of concepts
taught in this unit.
 Superposition Mystery Lab: To be able to determine the order
of a sequence of events and apply this skill to a geological
Assessment
Concept 1: Sample
Assessment Items
TCSS Earth Systems Earth History Unit Information
paleomagnetism).
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.
Radioactive Decay
Radiocarbon Dating
Radiometric Dating
Altered Hard Part
Cast
Index Fossil
Mineral Replacement
Mold
Original
Preservation
Trace Fossil
*Essential vocabulary
listed in the GPS
Standards
**Supplemental
vocabulary listed in the
state frameworks and/or
other state document



exercise, in order to determine a sequence of hypothetical
geological events and their relative age.
Earth Science Relative Dating Virtual Lab: Students with the
use of technology will practice the ideal of relative dating.
Good summarizing activity.
Using Relative Dating and Unconformities to Determine
Sequences of Events: In this lab we will deal with relative
dating. In relative dating, events are established as 1) older
than, 2) younger than, or 3) the same age as other geologic
events.
Lab Activity – Relative Dating: When observing a road-cut
the different stratum of rocks becomes obvious. Geologic
events such as deposition, erosion, volcanism and faulting are
preserved in the rock and it is possible to determine the
sequence of events from oldest to most recent. Sequencing
events establishes a relative age of a stratum. The process of
showing that rocks or geologic events occurring at different
locations are the same age is called correlation. Index fossils
and similar rocks types help geologists establish correlations
between distance rock outcrops.
TCSS Earth Systems Earth History Unit Information
Concept, Essential
Question(s), and
Standard(s)
Concept 2: Rock Record
EQ1: How did complex life
develop and diversity
during the three eras of the
Phanerozoic as the
continents moved into their
present positions?
SES4. Students will
understand how rock
relationships and fossils
are used to reconstruct
the Earth’s past.
b. Interpret the geologic
history of a succession of
rocks and unconformities.
e. Use geologic maps and
stratigraphic relationships
to interpret major events in
Earth history (e.g., mass
extinction, major climatic
change, tectonic events).
SES6. Students will
explain how life on Earth
responds to and shapes
Earth systems.
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.
Vocabulary
Essential*
Geologic History
Land Plants
Major Climatic Change
Marine Environments
Mass Extinction
Multicellular Animals
Photosynthetic
Prokaryotes
Stratigraphic
Relationships
Succession
Tectonic Events
Terrestrial Environments
Unconformities
Resources [Back to Top]
PowerPoints and Notes:
 Cenozoic Era
 Paleozoic Era
 Mesozoic Era
 Earth Systems Chapter 23 Notes(Teacher and Student)
o Recommend using these
Animations and Videos:
 Mesozoic Era (time 5:00)
 The Day the Mesozoic Died (time 33:43)
Handouts and Activities:
 Earth’s History Timeline Lab: We are going to make a scale
model of Earth’s history. A scale model means that the
timeline accurately depicts different lengths of time. All of the
Supplemental**
times that we are going to deal with in this lab are in millions
Cambrian Explosion
Paleogeography
of years ago (mya). To figure out the lengths that we need in
Passive Margin
this lab use the following proportion
Regression
 Precambrian and Paleozoic Transparency Activity: Students
Transgression
will use the attached transparency or sheet to answer questions
Amniotic Egg
about the Precambrian and Paleozoic time periods.
Iridium
 Paleozoic Era: Life Explodes (Worksheet 1) (Worksheet 2):
Phytoplankton
Review sheet about what occurred during the Paleozoic Era.
Bipedal
Good summative assessment. Work best with student fill in
Homo Sapiens
blank notes.
*Essential vocabulary listed
 Mesozoic Era: Age of Reptiles: Review sheet about what
in the GPS Standards
occurred during the Mesozoic Era. Good summative
assessment. Work best with student fill in blank notes.
**Supplemental vocabulary
 Cenozoic Era: The Age of Mammals: Review sheet about
listed in the state
what occurred during the Cenozoic Era. Good summative
frameworks and/or other
assessment. Work best with student fill in blank notes.
state document
Assessment
Concept 2: Sample
Assessment Items