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Geologic Time Activity
Compare geologic time to the length of
a football field, which is 100 yards long. Earth formed about 4.6
billion years ago. That's 4,600,000,000!
If you divided 4.6 billion by 100, then each yard equals 46,000,000
years, and each ten yard section equals 460,000,000 years.
Making a Time Line
Print out
or draw a model of a football field. (Note:
The "print out" option provides you with a scale model
of a 25-yard section of a football
field and two end zones. You will
need 4 copies of the 25-yard section but only 1 copy of the end
zones.) Starting at the left (4.6 billion years ago) and "moving
forward in time," label the 10-yard lines in years. Then, using
different colored markers, draw a horizontal line to show the beginning
and end of each of the following periods and eras.
- Cenozoic Era (65
million years ago [mya] to present)
- Triassic (245-208
mya), Jurassic (208-146 mya), and Cretaceous (146-65 mya) periods
- Paleozoic Era (570-245
mya)
- Proterozoic Era (2500-570
mya)
- Archaean Era (3800-2500
mya)
- Hadean Era (4600-3800
mya)
Option: Make a
circle, pie diagram, or clock that shows the amount of time in degrees
(there are 360 degrees in a circle) or in percentages for the following:
- a clock of the 4.6
billion year history
- a clock of the Mesozoic
(Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous)
- a clock of the Mesozoic
to the present.
Additional
Activities: What is a Million?
and Finding an Event in Time
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