This activity has students create a timeline using 6 meters of cash register ticker tape. They will lightly color the 4 eras, label important events, and tape or paste index fossils from the New York earth science reference tables.
The Story That Rocks Can Tell
By using prior knowledge of sedimentary rock formation and the agents of erosion and deposition, students use a set of rock samples and the principle of superposition to make observations and inferences. This data is then used to write a story.
Travel Past Inc.
Students will study a set of 8 fossils and determine their time-lines and specific ages. They will also consider the bedrock and glacial history of the area and weave a coherent story for the finding of the set of fossils.
The Gaia Theory
Use the data above to construct a graph of the changing percentage composition of Earth's atmosphere since the formation of the Earth.
Bedrock Correlation
In this lab you will correlate nine different outcrops from the area around Lake Cayuga to develop a complete 14 inch thick model of the rock layers (or STRATIGRAPHIC COLUMN) of the Devonian in that area. Modified from Nancy Spaulding's original.
Online Fossil Lab
Students explore an online fossil dig to find out more about the history of life on Earth.
Radioactive Decay
Radioisotope decay can be a hard concept to grasp due to its abstract nature. Therefore I suggest we use analogies to teach these topics turning them into "hands on" activities.
Correlation Of Fossils
Correlation of fossils and layers of rock around the outcrops in your classroom.
Get A Half Life
The theory of how half life break-down works is very mathematical. But it can also be modeled for us to see with simple materials. As you do this lab, try to ask yourself, How is what I'm doing like the decay of a radioactive nuclide?
Sequence Of Events Lab (using Outcrops)
Paper lab on sequencing of events in a bedrock outcrop. Relative dating laws, unconformities, folds, and faults will be addressed. If you need an answer key, please e-mail me: [email protected] Thank you to the four contributors to this lab.