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Geologic Time Activities

Activity #1

Section 1

Print out the drawing of the football field found on the Earth Science page. Starting at the left (visitors) end zone (4.6 billion years ago) and "moving forward in time" until the right (home) end zone (present time) is reached, label the 10-yard lines in years. Then, using different colored pencils, color the areas to show the beginning and end of each of the eras, periods and eons.

Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago [mya] to present)

Triassic Period (245-208mya)

Jurassic Period (208-144mya)

Cretaceous Period (144-66mya)

Paleozoic Era (570-245mya)

Proterozoic Eon (2.5bya-570mya)

Archaean Eon (3.8-2.5bya)

Hadean Eon (4.6-3.8bya)

Section 2

Using the same divisions and dates, create a pie chart. Pie charts have 360 ticks around the circumference. Label the pie chart with the percentage of pie covered by the corresponding slice. Color the slices with different colored pencils, markers or crayons.

Activity #2

Using your football field timeline, tell what yard line the following significant events took place and label them on the drawing by making a horizontal line across the field with a fine-tipped marker. Use different colored markers for each event and place an “X” on the line along with a description of the event.