The History of Geology and Life on Earth · The History of Geology and Life on Earth. Name Date Use...

When did land plants first evolve?

What structures allowed these early plants to survive on land? Explain your answer.

The History of Geology and Life on Earth

Name

Date

Use the “TIMELINE OF LIFE ON EARTH” in the Islands of Evolution exhibit to learn about the history of life on Earth. Then, continue to the Earthquake exhibit to answer questions on the geologic history of Earth and the Human Odyssey exhibit in African Hall to learn about the history of humans.

The length of the Academy from the east to west windows is about 450 feet or 137 meters.

If this length represented the entire 4.6 billion year history of Earth and started by the Earthquake exhibit, how far to the other side would you have to walk before you were at a time when life first evolved (3.5 billion years)? Mark your guess with a star along the dotted line on the map.

How far would you have to walk to the point when simple marine organisms evolved, 650 million years ago? Mark this estimate with an x along the dotted line on the map.

Describe what the first life to evolve 3.5 billion years ago was like.

Estimate This...

East Windows = Present day West Windows = Earth formed4.6 billion years ago

Early Earth History1

Isla

nds o

f Ev

olut

ion

Eart

hqua

ke

African Hall

Length of the Academy as a scaled timeline of Earth

__ million years ago (For this box, fill in the timepoint as a range.)

Genus Homo evolved.

Imagine what the Earth looked like around this time. Hint: There is a picture of it on this page.

African Hall: Human Odyssey (Part 1)

Earthquake

250 million years ago


66 million years ago (11 million years before 50 million years ago)


For each date write what groups of species flourished on earth (mark with a star), recently evolved (mark with an up arrow), or went extinct (mark with an X). Not all have all three categories.

___________ million years ago

Southern Hemisphere


Atlantic Ocean


Southern Hemisphere


Atlantic Ocean


Atlantic Ocean

200

Use the interactive Plate Movement screens to label the pictures. The first two are from the Southern Hemisphere view; the rest are from the Atlantic Ocean view. Possible dates are 200, 125, 66, 30, and 2 million years ago.

Examine the fossils next to the timeline. What can these fossils tell us about life on Earth millions of years ago? What information can’t fossils tell us about ancient life?

2

4

Islands of Evolution 3


8-7 million years ago

200,000 years ago

Revisit the map on the first page showing the length of the Academy as a scaled timeline of the Earth. Mark your estimate of when modern humans evolved with a square.

Fill in each box with the key event in human evolution that occurred at that time.


Critical Thinking5Discuss with a Friend

» When one group of species goes extinct, like the dinosaurs, why do other groups of species soon thrive on Earth?

» How have humans adapted to the variety of environments in which they live? Remember that adaptations include both physical and behavioral adaptations.

» Reflecting on all of the time scales you experienced today, what was most surprising to you?

4The history of modern humans continues with their migration out of Africa. View the large migration map screen and use the interactive timelines below the screen to fill in the boxes with the areas of the world populated with modern humans at each timepoint. Notice how climate change affected migration patterns.

Today

200,000 years ago(modern humans evolved)

125,000 55,000 25,000 10,000100,000 65,000

When did land plants first evolve?


What structures allowed these early plants to survive on land? Explain your answer.


Name

Date

Use the “TIMELINE OF LIFE ON EARTH” in the Islands of Evolution exhibit to learn about the history of life on Earth. Then, continue to the Earthquake exhibit to answer questions on the geologic history of Earth and the Human Odyssey exhibit in African Hall to learn about the history of humans.

The length of the Academy from the east to west windows is about 450 feet or 137 meters.

If this length represented the entire 4.6 billion year history of Earth and started by the Earthquake exhibit, how far to the other side would you have to walk before you were at a time when life first evolved (3.5 billion years)? Mark your guess with a star along the dotted line on the map.

How far would you have to walk to the point when simple marine organisms evolved, 650 million years ago? Mark this estimate with an x along the dotted line on the map.

Describe what the first life to evolve 3.5 billion years ago was like.

Estimate This...

East Windows = Present day West Windows = Earth formed4.6 billion years ago

Early Earth History1

Isla

nds o

f Ev

olut

ion

Eart

hqua

ke

African Hall

Length of the Academy as a scaled timeline of Earth

waxy exterior keeps them from drying out and pores allow them to exchange gases with the air

Single celled, including bacteria that could use energy from the sun to make food and release oxygen into the atmosphere

______ million years ago(For this box, fill in the timepoint as a range.)

Genus Homo evolved.

Imagine what the Earth looked like around this time. Hint: There is a picture of it on this page.


Earthquake



66 million years ago (11 million years before 50 million years ago)


For each date write what groups of species flourished on earth (mark with a star), recently evolved (mark with an up arrow), or went extinct (mark with an X). Not all have all three categories.


Southern Hemisphere


Atlantic Ocean


Southern Hemisphere


Atlantic Ocean


Atlantic Ocean

200

Use the interactive Plate Movement screens to label the pictures. The first two are from the Southern Hemisphere view; the rest are from the Atlantic Ocean view. Possible dates are 200, 125, 66, 30, and 2 million years ago.

Examine the fossils next to the timeline. What can these fossils tell us about life on Earth millions of years ago? What information can’t fossils tell us about ancient life?

2

4

Islands of Evolution 3


8-7 million years ago

200,000 years ago

Revisit the map on the first page showing the length of the Academy as a scaled timeline of the Earth. Mark your estimate of when modern humans evolved with a square.

Fill in each box with the key event in human evolution that occurred at that time.

95% of all species (or ) club mosses and reptiles on land; in the oceans, snails and clams Oceans teem with fishes, squid, large swimming reptiles and ammonites (extinct molluscs)

dinosaurs dominate the land flowering plants evolve in tandem with pollinating insects modern groups of insects, including ants, butterflies, aphids, grasshoppers, and termites modern forms of corals

Dinosaurs

Students may also include that most modern groups of mammals – including early primates – as well as grasses evolved. Though, strictly speaking, this happened between 66 and 50 million years ago.

grasslands mammals on the land monkeys and the early ancestors of apes most modern bird groups modern groups of marine animals (or) marine invertebrates diversify

66

30

125

2

Humans and chimpanzees diverged from each other.

Humans and chimpanzees diverged from gorillas.

2.4 - 1.4

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved.


Critical Thinking5Discuss with a Friend

» When one group of species goes extinct, like the dinosaurs, why do other groups of species soon thrive on Earth?

» How have humans adapted to the variety of environments in which they live? Remember that adaptations include both physical and behavioral adaptations.

» Reflecting on all of the time scales you experienced today, what was most surprising to you?

4The history of modern humans continues with their migration out of Africa. View the large migration map screen and use the interactive timelines below the screen to fill in the boxes with the areas of the world populated with modern humans at each timepoint. Notice how climate change affected migration patterns.

Today

200,000 years ago(modern humans evolved)

125,000 55,000 25,000 10,000100,000 65,000

AfricaAfrica

AfricaMiddle EastThe tropics (for example, India)

AfricaMiddle East or the Arabian Peninsula

AfricaMiddle EastThe tropicsSoutheast AsiaChinaAustraliaEurope

AfricaMiddle EastThe tropicsSoutheast AsiaChinaAustraliaEuropeThe Americas

Teacher and Youth Education, 2013 1

Objectives

In this scavenger hunt, students will 1. be introduced to different periods of Earth’s history. 2. relate the slow changes of plate movement to the slow processes of evolution. 3. estimate time scales using the length of the Academy as a model. 4. understand the time scale over which modern humans evolved, migrated, and populated

the Earth

Materials

The History of Geology and Life on Earth scavenger hunt Teacher Answer Key pencil or pen scratch paper (optional) clipboard (optional)

Vocabulary

ancestor: an earlier organism from which others are derived; a relative from the past descendant: an organism that derives or descends from an earlier form; future offspring diverge: when two lineages branch off in two directions evolution: changes in the heritable traits of a population of organisms as successive

generations replace one another. It is populations of organisms that evolve, not individual organisms

fossil: the remains or imprints of an organism from a previous time lineage: a continuous line of descent from a particular ancestor species: a group of organisms that share their most recent common ancestor and can

produce viable offspring

Teacher Background There are many great resources that describe the history of life on Earth. We recommend these as a way to prepare yourself for this lesson: Nova, A Brief History of Life. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/brief-history-

life.html BBC, History of life on Earth. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth Understanding Evolution. http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php Institute of Human Origins, Becoming Human. http://www.becominghuman.org/

The History of Geology and Life on Earth GRADE LEVELS 6th-12th; California Content Standards for 6th, 7th, and 9th-12th grades

SUBJECTS World History and Geography, Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Investigation and Experimentation

DURATION Preparation: 5 minutes Academy: 60 minutes

SETTING Islands of Evolution exhibit; Earthquake exhibit; African Hall: Human Odyssey exhibit

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/brief-history-life.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/brief-history-life.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/home.php

http://www.becominghuman.org/



Activity Preparation

1. Print out The History of Geology and Life on Earth scavenger hunt. One per student, or per pair if you would prefer they work together.

Introduction

Tell your students that when they visit the California Academy of Sciences, they will be learning about the history of life on Earth. Make sure that they have basic understanding of the processes of evolution and what the terms used in the vocabulary list mean.

Procedure 1. Hand out the scavenger hunts to each student or each pair of students. 2. Before they break into groups to explore the exhibits, point out that there is an order to

how they should proceed through the exhibits: starting with the “Timeline of Life on Earth” in Islands of Evolution, stopping in African Hall at the Human Odyssey exhibit, and finishing in the Earthquake exhibit. Note that this is the easiest order to do the hunt, but it can be done out of sequence if that works better for your group.

3. Make sure that students understand the questions on the hunt and point out that a number of questions do not require writing. Students should instead discuss them with a friend. These questions will also be discussed at the end of the field trip. If you feel they will need to write an answer to stay focused, provide them with scratch paper to write their ideas down.

4. Allow plenty of time for students to explore, answer, and discuss the questions on the hunt.

5. As students finish, encourage them to share what they found with their classmates.

Wrap-Up Go over the answers to the hunt either while still at the Academy or back in the

classroom. Ask where in the scaled timeline of the Academy the 3.5 billion, 650 million and 200,000

year marks were found. You can even gather predictions to see who was the closest. As a group, discuss the answers to the more open-ended questions:

• What can these fossils tell us about life on Earth millions of years ago? (Fossils can provide evidence of the past existence of species that have since gone extinct, they show the physical characteristics of ancient life and how structures have changed over time) What information can’t fossils tell us about ancient life? (Fossils cannot directly show the behavior of an animal, for example)

• When one group of species goes extinct, like the dinosaurs, why do other groups of species soon thrive on Earth? (There are more resources like food, water, and living space available to the new groups of species who may be better adapted to the changes that caused the extinction)

• How have humans adapted to the variety of environments in which they live? (Examples include skin color, building shelter, and wearing clothing.)

• Reflecting on all of the time scales you experienced today, what was most surprising to you?



Have students discuss, based on what they saw at the Academy, how plate movement,

climate change and evolution might be related.

Extensions This activity gives a brief introduction to the timeline of human evolution. In another Academy lesson, Human Evolution (http://www.calacademy.org/teachers/resources/lessons/human-evolution/) students will learn about the nature of scientific research in the context of human evolution. Correlated California Content Standards Grade Six World History and Geography: Ancient Civilizations

6.1 Students describe what is known through archaeological studies of the early physical and cultural development of humankind from the Paleolithic era to the agricultural revolution. 1.Describe the hunter-gatherer societies, including the development of tools and the use of fire. 2.Identify the locations of human communities that populated the major regions of the world and describe how humans adapted to a variety of environments. 3.Discuss the climatic changes and human modifications of the physical environment that gave rise to the domestication of plants and animals and new sources of clothing and shelter.

Earth Sciences

1.a. Students know evidence of plate tectonics is derived from the fit of the continents; the location of earthquakes, volcanoes, and midocean ridges; and the distribution of fossils, rock types, and ancient climatic zones.

Investigation and Experimentation

7. g. Interpret events by sequence and time from natural phenomena (e.g., the relative ages of rocks and intrusions).

Grade Seven Earth Sciences

4. a. Students know Earth processes today are similar to those that occurred in the past and slow geologic processes have large cumulative effects over long periods of time. 4.d. Students know that evidence from geologic layers and radioactive dating indicates Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old and that life on this planet has existed for more than 3 billion years. 4.e. Students know fossils provide evidence of how life and environmental conditions have changed. 4.f. Students know how movements of Earth's continental and oceanic plates through time, with associated changes in climate and geographic connections, have affected the past and present distribution of organisms. 4.g. Students know how to explain significant developments and extinctions of plant and animal life on the geologic time scale.

http://www.calacademy.org/teachers/resources/lessons/human-evolution/



Investigation and Experimentation

7.d. Construct scale models, maps, and appropriately labeled diagrams to communicate scientific knowledge (e.g., motion of Earth's plates and cell structure).

Grades Nine through Twelve Evolution

8.e. Students know how to analyze fossil evidence with regard to biological diversity, episodic speciation, and mass extinction.

Investigation and Experimentation 1. i. Analyze the locations, sequences, or time intervals that are characteristic of natural phenomena (e.g., relative ages of rocks, locations of planets over time, and succession of species in an ecosystem).

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