APS Science 2011
APS Science Curriculum Unit Planner
Grade Level/Subject High School Earth Science Stage 1: Desired Results Enduring Understanding The present is the key to the past. Correlations Unifying Understanding VA SOL ES.9 The student will investigate and understand that many aspects of the history and evolution of Earth and life can be inferred by studying rocks and fossils. Key concepts include a) traces and remains of ancient, often extinct, life are preserved by various means in many sedimentary rocks; b) superposition, cross-cutting relationships, index fossils, and radioactive decay are methods of dating bodies of rock; c) absolute and relative dating have different applications but can be used together to determine the age of rocks and structures; and d) rocks and fossils from many different geologic periods and epochs are found in Virginia.
NSES (grade level) UCP 4, SAI 2c, ES 3b, ES 3d, PS1, LS 3, HNS 3 AAAS Atlas Essential Questions How can the Earth's history be discerned from Earth's rocks? How are science and technology used to calculate the age of the Earth an its development over time? Knowledge and Skills Students should know: Explain theory of Earth formation (land, ocean, atmosphere, and life) Explain how past life has been preserved Describe how life has changed over time including the impact and role of catastrophies on extinctions and evolution Students should be able to: Represent geologic time to scale Compare/contrast relative vs. absolute age of Earth materials Interpret a rock sequence using principles of relative age dating and absolute dating Demonstrate half-life Stage 2: Assessment Evidence Prior Knowledge and Skills Various types of fossils Concept of linear timelines
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Working knowledge of arithmetic for half-life demonstrations
Know the age of the Earth and the universe Know the various time periods and what divides them Be able to figure out half life Read charts and diagrams Understand how technology influences the determination of a fossil’s age Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Labs Notebook Worksheets Tests Quizzes Projects
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Stage 3: Learning Plan References to Adopted Materials Holt, Ch 8 Holt Ch 9
Prentice Hall, Pg. 334-391 (unit 4, historical geology) o Geologic Time, Pg. 334-361 o Earth’s History, Pg. 362-391 Suggested Investigations Creating layers group activity , p188 (Holt, Teacher’s Edition) Radioactive decay lab, p194 (Holt) Spacing footprints activity , p199(Holt, Teacher’s Edition) Future earth inquiry, Chapter resources Dinosaur mapping lab, p234 (Holt) Geological Time Line Lab with adding machine tape Correlation activity using index fossils Putting the rock record in order through various cards M&M/Skittle Half Life Lab Debate on whether or not dinosaurs should be recreated Peanut butter and jelly sedimentary rock simulation, Snickers simulation
Research a time period and tell the events that occurred during it and what animals/plants lived Pick a dinosaur and do a PowerPoint presentation about it Discuss whether or not dinosaurs have evolved into animals in today’s society Debate the different outlooks on evolution of species Create a game board on the journey through time using the information learned about geological history Create an exhibit hall on the journey through time Identify various fossils and the time period that they lived during Explain what the term “the present is the key to the past” means and why the statement is true not only in science Outdoor Education Applications None currently noted Resources Web Sites
www.wm.edu/geology/virginia http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/dinosaur.html http://www.galaxynet.com/~corvid/ear/earu_history.htm http://www.galaxynet.com/~corvid/pal/palm.htm Videos The Real Jurassic Park Jurassic Park
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Bill Nye: Dinosaurs Bill Nye: Fossils Neanderthal Online clips Rock record Discovery Streaming Field Trips Natural History Museum Other
*Italics denote additional suggestions for Intensified. Intensified may include suggestions from Regular.
Textbook Correlations to Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings How can the Earth's history be discerned from Earth's rocks? A geologic column represents a sampling of earth’s Holt Ch 9.1 history, a local timeline of events preserved in rocks Prentice Hall 12.4 and fossils. The geologic time scale represents the data from these samplings of earth’s history. The rocks with their assorted fossils provide a history Holt Ch 8.3; Ch 9.2, .3 of past environments and life forms. Prentice Hall Ch 13 How are science and technology used to calculate the age of the Earth an its development over time? The principal of uniformitarianism underlies the way Holt Ch 8.1 science and technology is used to study earth’s Prentice Hall 12.1 history; the forces that governed events in the past are the same forces that act today. Relative age dating is based on the interpretation of Holt Ch 8.1 rock layers according to fossils, and the principals of Prentice Hall 12.2 superposition, cross cutting relationships and patterns of unconformities. Relative time places events in a sequence without assigning any numerical ages. Using the half life clock of radioactive minerals Holt Ch 8.2 provides the absolute age of an artifact. Prentice Hall 12.3
The Rock Record Dating Techniques Uniformatarianism: Hutton’s principle states that current geologic processes, such as volcanism and erosion, are the same process that were at work in the past.
Types of Geological Dating Relative Dating: Places the ages of rocks & events in order without exact dates.
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Superposition: Undisturbed Rock Sequence, oldest on bottom and as you go up each layer is younger Original Horizontality: Sedimentary Rocks. Are deposited in horizontal or nearly horizontal layers. Oldest on the bottom, younger as you go up Cross-Cutting Relationship: intrusion or a fault is younger than the rock it cuts across
Absolute Dating: Determines the actual age of a rock, fossil, or other object Radioactive Decay: emission of radioactive particles and resulting change into other elements Parent: original radioactive element Daughter: new element Example: U-238 to Pb-206 Radiometric Dating: determine the ratio of parent nuclei to daughter nuclei within a given sample of rock/fossil o Half-Life: the amount of time it take for 1/2 of the original amount to decay . Carbon-14: can be used up to 75,000 years (skeletons) . Potassium-40 used also to date rocks
Other Dating Techniques . Correlation Correlate rock layers is the matching of outcrops of one geographic region to another . Unconformities Gap in the Rock Record due to Erosion
Clues to identifying Rock Layers Graded Bedding – The arrangement of layers in which coarse heavy particles are located in the bottom layers. Cross-Beds: When sand is deposited, sandy sediment forms curved beds at an angle to the bedding plane. Ripple Marks – Ripple Marks are small waves that form on the surface of sand because of the action of water or wind.
The Geological Time Scale Divided history of Earth into time units based upon fossils within the rocks Record is from Earth’s origin (4.6 Billion Years ago) to present Dates are changing as they are refined
What is Geological Time? Oldest is at the bottom of the scale Divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs
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Eon: Longest time unit, measured in billions of years Archean, Proterozoic, Phanerozoic Eras: Measured in hundreds of millions to billions of years (Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic) Defined by differences in life forms found in rocks Periods: Defined by life forms that were abundant or became extinct during time in which specific rocks deposited tens of millions of years to hundreds of millions of yrs. Epochs: millions of years to tens of millions of years Different groups of organism distinguish
PreCambrian 90% of geological time Soft bodies and no shells or skeletons
Paleozoic Oceans full of a wide diversity of plants & animals Trilobites dominated oceans, land plants, land animals, swamps 90% marine invertebrate species extinct Mesozoic Emergence of dinosaurs, reef-building corals, large predatory reptiles, amphibians left water for land, flowering plants & trees, mammals increased in dinosaurs Large extinction Cenozoic Humans developed
Fossils Evidence or remains of once-living plants or animals Study of Fossils: Paleontology Conditions Necessary: Rapid Burial Possession of Hard Parts Soft Sediment Why Study Fossils? • Provides: evidence of past existence of a wide variety of lifeforms Allows scientists to interpret and describe Earth’s history evidence that populations have undergone change due to environmental changes (Known as evolution) past environmental conditions Locate Energy Resources
Types of Fossils
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Mummification: Mummified remains are often found in very dry places, because most bacteria, which causes decay cannot survive in these places.
Index Fossils: Remains of plants or animal that can be used by geologists to correlate rock layers over large geographic areas or to date a particular rock layer
Must be: . Easily recognizable . Abundant . Widely distributed geographically . Lived during a short period Imprints: Carbonized imprints of leaves, stems, flowers, and fish made in soft mud or clay. Molds and Casts: Shells often leave empty cavities called molds within hardened sediments. Coprolites: Fossilized dung or waste materials from ancient animals. Gastroliths: Some dinosaurs had stones in their digestive systems to help grind their food.
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