Earth History Timeline



INTRODUCTION:

Do you have any idea how old the Earth is? The most accurate and consistent dating methods available indicate that the earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Sometime during those 4.6 billion years, a very important thing happened: Life began. It is not certain exactly when this event took place, but the fossils of ancient organisms give us some idea of when the most primitive living organisms appeared.

The oldest and most primitive organisms that have been found are variations of bacteria and blue-green algae. These fossils have been found in rocks that were 3.5 – 3.8 billion years old. The fossil record indicates that these were some of the only forms of life that existed until about 600 million years ago. Around that time an explosion of life began, producing a tremendous variety of organisms that have inhabited the earth since that time (most of which are now extinct).

PURPOSE:

In this activity, you will create a timeline for the entire history of the earth over the distance of 1 meter. On this timeline you will plot some of the major events that have occurred throughout the age of this planet. The divisions of measurement on the meter stick will represent specific units of time.

PROCEDURE:

This Timeline will be graded based on; following directions, accuracy, and quality of work.

Follow the directions below and refer to the Template sheet for how to set this up.

I HIGHLY recommend using pencil to start!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Trace the outline of the meter stick onto your paper 2 times;

- Once at the top of the poster

- Once at the bottom of the poster

2. The TOP meter stick will represent the entire age of the Earth: 5 Billion years ago ( present day

The BOTTOM meter stick will represent the past 1 Billion years: 1 Billion years ago ( present day

3. Label "PAST" along the left side and "PRESENT" along the right side.

4. SCALE: Divide and mark the following distances on each timeline as indicated below

(Make sure the meter stick has the 100 cm mark at the left, and the 1 cm mark at the right)

Top Timeline Bottom Timeline

• 0 cm - Present Day (*Far right side) • 0 cm - Present Day (* Far right side)

• 20 cm - 1 Billion Years Ago • 1 cm - 10 Million Years

• 40 cm - 2 Billion Years Ago • 1 - 9 mm - 1 mm = 1 Million Years

• 60 cm - 3 Billion Years Ago * mark the mm ONLY for the 1st cm

• 80 cm - 4 Billion Years Ago • Mark every 5cm for the rest of the

• 100 cm - 5 Billion Years Ago timeline; 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, etc…

5. Check with your teacher to make sure your scale is correct for both timelines before moving on to the next part.

1. The chart below lists some of the important events in the earth's history and the number of years ago they are believed to have occurred. Your timeline must include each of these important events.

2. Draw and label (name and years ago) a picture for each of the events listed below. If you do not know the meaning of a particular word, use your textbook as a resource to find the meaning.

3. Fill up as muck of the poster space as possible with your pictures and use a ruler to draw a line connecting the picture with its appropriate place on the timeline.

|Geological Events in Earth History |Number of Years Ago |

|Earth cools allowing oceans to form |3.8 billion * |

|Evidence of O2 in Earth’s atmosphere |2.5 billion * |

|Appalachian Mountains formed (folded) |230 million |

|End of the last Ice Age |12 thousand |

|Grand Canyon cut by Colorado River |10 million |

|O2 levels like today |400 million |

|Pangaea begins to separate |200 million |

|Rocky Mountains formed (folded) |65 million |

|Continents near present day position |60 million |

|Ozone level like today |600 million |

|Pangaea supercontinent forms |280 million |

|Presumed meteor strike |65 million |

|Earth forms- no O2 & very hot |4.6 billion * |

|Biological Events in Earth History |Number of Years Ago |

|First Flowering Plants |150 million |

|Appearance of Insects |450 million |

|First Dinosaurs appeared |225 million |

|Earliest Fossils - bacteria and blue green algae |3.5 billion * |

| First Homo sapien fossils |195 thousand |

|Dinosaurs become extinct |65 million |

|First Reptiles |290 million |

|First Amphibians |400 million |

|First Primates |60 million |

|Abundant invertebrates in the seas |530 million |

|First Birds |150 million |

|First Mammals |200 million |

|First Evidence of Land Plants |475 million |

|First Sharks |400 million |

|Discovery of the structure of DNA |56 years |

|First Fish |560 million |

|First eukaryotes |1.8 billion * |

|Average Global Temperature |Earth Temperature |

|630-465 Million Years Ago |Warm |

|465-430 Million Years Ago |Cool |

|430-350 Million Years Ago |Warm |

|354-260 Million Years Ago |Cool |

|260-160 Million Years Ago |Warm |

|160-120 Million Years Ago |Cool |

|120-40 Million Years Ago |Warm |

|40 Million Years Ago – present |Cool |

* These events took place over 1 billion years ago, and must be connected to the TOP timeline

Timeline Questions Name Per

ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN COMPLETE SENTENCES!

1. When did the first living organisms appear and what were they? Describe what kind of organisms they would be similar to today.

2. What do the following units of measurement equal in time for each timeline?

TOP TIMELINE: BOTTOM TIMELINE:

a. 1 cm = a. 1 cm =

b. 10 cm = b. 7 mm =

c. 1 mm = c. 9 cm =

d. 12 cm = d. 10 mm =

e. 1 m = e. 1 m =

3. Which appeared first on land, animals or plants?

4. Do you think that plants can survive without animals? If so, what characteristic of plants might enable them to survive without animals? If not, why do they depend on animals for survival?

5. Do you think animals could live without plants? Explain.

6. Which of the organisms on your time line have been around the least amount of time?

7. Define the following:

a. Invertebrates:

b. Vertebrates:

8. All of the organisms below are in the kingdom Animalia. Label as invertebrate (I) or vertebrates (V).

_____ butterfly _____ snake _____ jellyfish _____ eagle _____ gold fish _____ snail

_____ starfish _____ rabbit _____ spider _____ squid _____ worm _____ frog

9. How long did the dinosaurs live before becoming extinct? How does this compare with how long

humans have been around?

10a. Based on your answer above, do your think dinosaurs were a successful group of organisms? Explain.

10b. What is the most popular hypothesis of why the dinosaurs went extinct?

11. Do you think humans will be around that long? Why or why not?

12. Support or reject the following statements based on your timeline and provide some explanation for why this might or might not be so. (Complete sentences!)

a. Mammals and dinosaurs lived together at one time.

b. Insects came before flowering plants.

c. Reptiles came before birds.

d. Cavemen hunted dinosaurs for food.

13. Approximately what time did livings become abundant (lots of different living things) on earth?

14. Form a hypothesis to account for why so many different organisms appeared “all at once".

Think about what other significant geological events occurred around that time and explain why these events would have been important.

15. Based on the information from the timeline, are we currently in a warm or a cool stage regarding the Earth’s average temperature? Is this what you expected? Explain why or why not.

More on Vertebrates: Provide the following for each major CLASS of vertebrate.

Fish (3 classes- Agnatha & Chondrichthyes & Osteichtyes)

Reproduction:

General Environment(s):

Unique Physical Characteristics:

Examples:

Amphibians (Amphibia)

Reproduction:

General Environment(s):

Unique Physical Characteristics:

Examples:

Reptiles (Reptilia)

Reproduction:

General Environment(s):

Unique Physical Characteristics:

Examples:

Birds (Aves)

Reproduction:

General Environment(s):

Unique Physical Characteristics:

Examples:

Mammals (Mammalia)

Reproduction:

General Environment(s):

Unique Physical Characteristics:

Examples:

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Note!

Many of these numbers are estimates made by scientists based on the most current fossil and molecular evidence. The numbers may vary slightly based on the source.

Remember, science is TENTATIVE and subject to change if new evidence should arise.

Global Temperature:

* Only for BOTTOM Timeline

Color these sections of the meter stick RED to represent warm climate or BLUE to represent a cool climate

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