Tuesday
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10 Minutes to finish any last questions on the
Geologic Review Practice Test
◦ Whatever is not finished today will be assigned
for homework
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One Test per table: Test are in Green Basket
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Reminder: Geology Test Monday Jan 11
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No CHROME BOOKS OUT!!
Work Quietly Please
Divisions of Geologic Time
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Eon – the longest unit of time on the Geologic
time scale
Era – a division of an Eon on the Geologic
time scale
Period – A block of time on the Geologic time
scale in which rock layers were laid down; a
subdivision of an Era
Epoch – the shortest division of time on the
Geologic time scale; a subdivision of a Period
Earth’s History
Continued…
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Now that we have
all of these pieces
of evidence, we are
able to reconstruct
a timeline of Earth’s
History…we call
this timeline the
Geologic Time
Scale.
Geologic Time Scale
 Geologic
Time Scale – a timeline
of Earth’s History divided by
major events or changes on Earth
What do we call these major
events or changes?
Catastrophic Events
Catastrophic Events – events that cause
major destruction or change life
completely
Examples:
 Mass extinctions
 Ice Ages
 Meteor strikes
 Major volcanic eruptions
1.
 2.
 3.
 4.
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Hadean
Archean
Proterozoic
Phanerozoic
The first 3 eons make up Precambrian
Time which is 90% of Earth’s History!
It lasted nearly 4 billion years of
Earth’s 4.6 billion year history!
MAIN EVENTS:
After Earth & its moon were formed, there was…
 Major volcanic activity leading to the formation
of Earth’s Crust!
 Oxygen levels in the atmosphere rise!
 Single-celled micro-organisms; simple multicelled organisms, like sponges & jellyfish, in
the ocean towards the end.
 NO animals or plants on land!
 Explosion
of Life!
 Contains 3 Eras:
◦ Paleozoic Era – “Age of Amphibians”
◦ Mesozoic Era – “Age of Dinosaurs”
◦ Cenozoic Era – “Age of Mammals”
544 mya – 248 mya
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More diverse marine life such as fish and
amphibians developed
Life begins moving onto land towards the
end of this era
Reptiles, insects, and simple land plants like
ferns developed
Pangaea exists about 280 million years ago
Ends with a Mass Extinction possibly from a
meteor strike (???) – kills 90% of all ocean
species and 70% of land dwellers!
248 mya – 65 mya
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Pangaea begins to break apart about 200
million years ago!
Dinosaurs rule the land!
Small early mammals, birds, and more
complex flowering plants and flying
insects are seen
Ends with another Mass Extinction due to
meteor strike off the coast of Mexico
Dust cloud blocked sunlight, killed
plant life and affected the food chain
65 mya – Present
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First primates appear
Primitive whales enter the ocean
Larger land mammals like horses, pigs (have
hooves) cats, dogs, bears
Animals developed migration techniques and
coevolution patterns
Quaternary Period = the past 2 million yrs
◦ Last Ice Age ends
◦ 1st modern humans leading to Homo Sapiens
and modern civilizations
Human Geologic Timeline
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You will receive a card with an event from
the Geologic Time Scale
First you must decide which of the 4
corners you belong – Check your note
guide!
And then you must put yourselves in
order within your era!
Geologic Time Scale Order
Precambrian Time = Hadean, Archean & Proterozoic
Eons
Remember: This is 90% of Earth’s History!
 Earth formed (4.6 billion years ago)
 Earth’s moon forms (4.5 billion years ago)
 Earth’s crust formed (3.8 billion years ago)
 Single-celled organisms (1.4 billion years ago)
 Oxygen levels rise due to photosynthetic organisms
 Sponges (600 million years ago)
Multi-celled
 Jellyfish (570 million years ago)
organisms in the
ocean only
towards the end!
Geologic Time Scale Order
Phanerozoic Eon – Paleozoic Era
 Pangaea begins to form should be in this
era!
 Fish & Amphibians diversify marine life
 Reptiles!
 Early insects (like spiders & centipedes)
 First land plants like ferns developed
 ENDED WITH…?
Geologic Time Scale Order
Phanerozoic Eon – Mesozoic Era
Pangaea begins to break up should be
first in this era!
 Dinosaurs rule the land!
 Small early mammals & birds
 More complex flowering plants &
flying insects are seen
 ENDED WITH…?
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Geologic Time Scale Order
Phanerozoic Eon – Cenozoic Era
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First primates appear
Primitive whales enter the ocean
Larger land mammals like horses, pigs (have
hooves)
Then cats, dogs & bears
Animals develop migration techniques &
coevolution patterns
Last Ice Age ended (11,000 years ago)
“Modern” humans – Neanderthal Man
Homo Sapiens (17,000 years ago-last species of
human to survive extinction)
Modern Civilization (10,000 years ago)
Geologic Time Scale Summary
 The
Geologic Time Scale is
divided by catastrophic events;
not equal time segments!
 In general, life goes from simple
to more complex!
 Most life occurs towards the end
of the Geologic Time Scale!
The Day the Mesozoic Died
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Fill the video guide in for a completion grade
while you watch the movie…make sure your
answers are also accurate!
◦ 100 = complete
◦ 70 = incomplete
Geologic Time Scale Summary
 The
Geologic Time Scale is
divided by catastrophic events;
not equal time segments!
 In general, life goes from simple
to more complex!
 Most life occurs towards the end
of the Geologic Time Scale!
The Clock of Eras
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The last comparison
put Earth’s Geologic
Time Scale into 1
year – but what if we
put it into 1 day?
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=H2_6cq
a2cP4
Round 1
Evidence of Earth’s Age
Part 1- First Column
The
1
time it takes
for 50% of a
radioactive
material to decay
2
Exact
age of
something – a
number
A
3
whole, or part
of a whole
organism that
remains
4
Something
that
causes rock layers
to be missing or
messed up
5
Evidence
left
behind from an
organism like a
foot print
A
6
substance that
is unstable and
decays
7
Information
about
the climate based
on the amount of
rainfall
8
Under
normal
conditions, the oldest
rock is on the bottom
and the youngest is on
the top
Crack
9
or shift in
rocks that usually
occurs due to an
earthquake
A
10
common organism
that lived during a
specific time – used as
a reference to date
other things
Round 2
Evidence of Earth’s Age
Part 2
Magma
1
that pushed
through the rock
layers and hardens
Age
2
compared to
the ages of other
things – general
description
A
3
sample that gives up
to 800,000 years of
information about
climate and events of
the past
A
4
type of fossil that
looks identical to
the original, but it is
only a copy
5
Remains
of a
preserved organism
(most general
definition)
Used
6
to figure out
the absolute age of
something very old
or non-living
A
7
version of an
element that is used
in radioactive dating
 Used
8
to figure out the
absolute age of
something that was once
living or younger than
60,000 years old
9
Folding
of rock
layers due to
erosion, gravity, or
other factors
The
10
type of fossil
that is an imprint
of the organism
Round 3
Geologic Time Scale
Smallest
1
unit of time
on the timeline of
Earth’s History
Most
2
recent era;
“Age of the
Mammals”
The
3
first 3 Eons of
Earth’s History;
about 4 billion years
4
that
causes major
destruction or
changes life
completely
Something
5
Second
largest
segment of time;
broken into
periods
6
Middle
era;
“Age of the
Dinosaurs”
7
Largest
segment
of time; broken
into eras
A
8
timeline of
Earth’s History
separated by
major events
9
Third
largest
segment of time;
broken into
epochs
10
Ancient
era;
“Age of
Amphibians”