CURRICULUM TOOL: GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC TIME
NYS Earth Science Core Curriculum
Performance Indicator 1.2 Describe current theories about the origin of the universe and solar system.
Major Understandings:
1.2d Asteroids, comets, and meteors are components of our solar system.
 Impact events have been correlated with mass extinction and global climatic change.
 Impact craters can be identified in Earth’s crust.
1.2h The evolution of life caused dramatic changes in the composition of Earth’s atmosphere. Free
oxygen did not form in the atmosphere until oxygen-producing organisms evolved.
1.2i The pattern of evolution of life-forms on Earth is at least partially preserved in the rock record.
 Fossil evidence indicates that a wide variety of life-forms has existed in the past and that most of
these forms have become extinct.
 Human existence has been very brief compared to the expanse of geologic time.
1.2j Geologic history can be reconstructed by observing sequences of rock types and fossils to correlate
bedrock at various locations.
 The characteristics of rocks indicate the processes by which they formed and the environments in
which these processes took place.
 Fossils preserved in rocks provide information about past environmental conditions.
 Geologists have divided Earth history into time units based upon the fossil record.
 Age relationships among bodies of rocks can be determined using principles of original
horizontality, superposition, inclusions, cross-cutting relationships, contact metamorphism, and
unconformities. The presence of volcanic ash layers, index fossils, and meteoritic debris can provide
additional information.
 The regular rate of nuclear decay (half-life time period) of radioactive isotopes allows geologists to
determine the absolute age of materials found in some rocks.
Performance Indicator 2.1 Use the concepts of density and heat energy to explain observations of weather
patterns, seasonal changes, and the movements of Earth’s plates.
Major Understandings:
2.1o Plate motions have resulted in global changes in geography, climate, and the patterns of organic
evolution.
High School of Language and Innovation 2012 (draft)
Curriculum-Based Questions
 How is geologic time broken into smaller time
frames? Which eon is the focus of the Earth Science
Reference Table and why?
 How are extinction level events represented on the
Earth Science Reference Table?
 How do use scientists use index fossils and ash to
date rock layers?
 How do geologic events in New York during the
Ordovician Period and the Cretaceous Period
compare?
 How did life on Earth compare between the Devonian
period and the Quaternary Epoch?
 How did the atmosphere evolve? How was the
atmosphere altered by the evolution of life-forms?
 Complete one activity from the green Geologic
History binder.
Earth Science Reference Table pg. 8&9
(related pages 1, 2, 3, 6, 7)
CURRICULUM TOOL: GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC TIME
Some Past Part A Questions
1. When did the earliest humans appear on Earth?
(1) before the earliest dinosaurs
(2) before the earliest flowering plants
Some Past Part B-1, B-2, C Questions
January 2013 Questions 58, 59, 62
August 2012 Questions 37, 57, 74
June 2012 Questions 54, 57, 72
(3) during the Pleistocene Epoch
(4) during the Late Triassic Epoch
2. A 65.5-million-year-old impact crater in Mexico provides evidence for the cause of the
(1) breakup of Pangaea
(3) Alleghenian orogeny
(2) evolution of the earliest corals
(4) extinction of ammonoids
*Released Regents Tests:
http://www.nysedregents.org/earthscience
/
3. Approximately 2.2 billion years ago, which gas was first added in large amounts to Earth’s atmosphere from life-forms that evolved in the oceans?
(1) carbon dioxide
(3) oxygen
(2) water vapor
(4) nitrogen
4. Which geologic event occurred in New York State at the end of the Triassic Period?
(1) domelike uplift of the Adirondack regions
(3) retreat of the last continental ice
(2) formation of the Catskill delta
(4) intrusion of the Palisades sill
Resources for Learning
Readings
Holt (yellow book)
pg. 200-232
Glencoe (big blue
book) pg. 553-556,
566-569
McGuire (little blue
book) pg. 407-413,
416-424
Unison Reading
Binder: Geologic
History
Websites
Videos
Regents Exam Prep Center: Earth Science
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/earthsci/earthsci.cfm
Geology: Earth’s History
http://hmxearthscience.com/geologic_history.html
Earth’s History Regents Review
http://earthsciencerocks.wikispaces.com/file/view/History+of+the
+Earth+Multiple+Choice.pdf
What is a Fossil?
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/fossil_intro.ht
ml&edu=high
Geologic History of New York State
http://www.schooltube.com/video/3dc6629729251ea4ce3d/Geol
ogic-History-of-New-York-State-Earth-Science-Reference-Tables
Geologic Time
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-geologicaltime
Geologic Time
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/time/visualizations/geo
time.html
At home:
Earth History www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PWO6QQSNM4
Geologic History page 8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMBgiwevVD8
Geologic History page 9
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMQhSVUujs
Foreign Language:
¿Qué es un Fósil?
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/geology/fossil_intro.ht
ml&edu=high&lang=sp
High School of Language and Innovation 2012 (draft)
In-Class
Activities
Geologic
History Binder
Geologic
History
Vocabulary
Geologic
History
Memory
CURRICULUM TOOL: GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC TIME
High School of Language and Innovation 2012 (draft)