Unit 12: Geologic Time

Test Date: ________________

Optional: Painless Earth Science Chapter 10

Learning Targets (LT)I will be able to...   

1. understand the age of the earth and its formation   2. describe how life has changed and become more complex over geologic time. 3. interpret a cross-section, using Steno’s Laws (superposition, unconformity,  fossil succession, uniformitarianism, original horizontality and cross-cutting relations). 4. Use fossils and rock strata to establish correlation   5. Use radioactive dating methods to determine the age of rock strata   6. analyze the impact and role of global catastrophes (including asteroid/comet impacts, volcanism, continental collisions, climate collapse) on extinctions and evolution.     7. analyze various climate feedback mechanisms that control the Earth’s temperature over time, and compare and contrast these feedback mechanisms to those operating on inner planets and the gas giants. 8. analyze the evidence for atmospheric compositional change over geologic time including oxygen and carbon sinks and the role of photosynthetic organisms.    9. offer interpretations of the tectonic history of an area based on the range and type of rocks found in that area. 10. analyze a sequence of rocks in terms of types, textures, composition, fossils, structural, and weathering features  in order to  infer the history of the sequence over time.   11. Analyze the geologic time scale in terms of eons, eras, periods, and epochs.   12. Describe the process of fossil formation and fossil types (casts, molds, trace, preserved remains) 

Vocabulary: Define in your own words by the unit test.

eon  epoch  era extinct  Index fossil Faunal succession Geologic time scale  Half-life  isotope Law of original horizontality  Mass extinction  Absolute AgeDaughter isotope Parent isotope  period Principle of superposition  Principle of cross-cutting relations  Radioactive decay Radiometric dating  Relative age  Rock correlation Rock record  uniformitarianism  unconformity 

How are you doing? 

Quiz / Activity  Target #  Score  Retake?  Yes or No  Retake Score 

         

         

         

         

         

Sample Questions                    

1. How do scientists use relative dating?

2. What are Steno’s Laws? 

3. What are fossils? Where can they be found? What types of fossils are there? Under what conditions do they form?

4. What is radioactivity? How can it be used to date objects? At what point does it become ineffective (in terms of time)?

5. How is geologic time divided? Put the following terms in order: Period, Era, Eon, Epoch.

6. Using the figure below, “Triassic” is part of what Era? What eon? When did it begin? Why did it begin? Why did it end?

7. Using the figure below, put geological events A through F in order from oldest to youngest.