The Story of the Earth

The Principle of
Superposition!
Theory says
The world was originally a large ball of
molten rock which cooled.
As it cooled
asses de!eloped making the
atmosphere we ha!e today. This
atmosphere holds in the air and
water around us making Earth
li!able.
"ain came causing oceans# lakes
and ri!ers
$here
%how
did
rain
come
from&
'ut where did the dirt and soil come
from&
$hy isn(t the world
co!ered with )ust rock
and water&
T*E "+,- ,.,/E!
'ut the rock cycle has done more than
)ust gi!e us dirt and soil# it is a book
that tells us about our past.
*ow& 0ossils!
Uniformitarianism
A fancy word meaning that the
changes we see in the world
today has not changed. The same
processes of melting# solidifying#
erosion# weathering# heat and
pressure that we see today are the
same changes that ha!e been in
place since the Earth 1rst cooled.
2niform means the
same
Paleontology
The study of past life through fossils.
Fossils
Are the remains or proof of e3istence
of organisms 4plants and animals5
preser!ed by geologic processes.
There are two ways to tell the age of a
fossil absolute age and relati!e age
Absolute age means when know the
age of the fossil# e3actly.
/ike your age# we know when your life
began.
*ow can we 1gure out.
.the age of an organism that is now
dead& 6t isn(t like we know its
birthday!
We compare it
to plants that
we know are
older or
younger. We
call this
relative age.
We dont know
the exact age
but we know
how it
compares to
others.
An analogy.
$e may not know the age of a student in
elementary school but we know they are
younger than most of the middle school
students.
/ayers of the Earth are like clothes
in a basket
The oldest dirty clothes are on the
bottom and the newer dirty clothes
are on top!
Law of uperposition
$e can tell the relati!e age of items by
where they are located in layers of
sedimentary rock.
0ossils in the
same layers
are usually
about the
same age.
$ith the oldest
on the bottom.
+riginal *ori7ontality
$hy do we say usually and nearly
the same age&
'ecause sometimes things happen8
Earth can break# bend# push and pull.
So how do we know the relati!e age
of an item.
6t(s like making layered brownies.
http8%%www.youtube.com%watch&!9:-
cS2;<=!TE
"e!iew >uestions..
?5 $hat do we use to help us
determine the approximate age of
rocks&
a5 "ocks
b5 0ossils
c5 "adioacti!e decay
d5 ,hicken feet
@5 *ow does uniformitarianism help us
understand what rocks can tell us&
a5 "ocks ha!e always changed the
same way
b5 All types of rock change uniformly
c5 The way rocks weather ha!e
changed o!er time
d5 ,hicken neck
A5 *ow does the /aw of Superposition
help us understand the relati!e ages of
rocks&
a5 .ounger rocks are on the bottom of a
stack of rocks
b5 The relati!e age of rocks cannot be
determined based on their position
with one another
c5 +lder rocks are on the bottom while
younger rocks are on the top.
d5 ,hicken nose
B5 *ow does the /aw of +riginal
*ori7ontality help us understand the
relati!e ages of rocks and fossils&
a5 "ock sediment settle initially into
hori7ontal layers
b5 Sediment settle into areas that are
lowest 1rst then begin to pile up
c5 Sediment 1rst settle into piles and
then sift into hori7ontal layers
d5 ,hicken knees
$hat should we remember&
?. +ldest layers are on the bottom
because they were 1rst.
@. .oungest layers are on the top.
A. 0ossils are found in layers which
were forming during their life.
B. 6CDEE 0+SS6/S!
$hat is an inde3 fossil&
An inde3 fossil is an organism that we
can use to determine the age of a
layer because we know when it was
ali!e!
Acti!ity
.ou ha!e eight inde3 cards on your desk.
?. Each card stands for a layer of the
Earth found in a sedimentary rock layer.
@. Each letter stands for a fossil found in
that layer.
A. The letters are in order left to right
from youngest fossil to oldest based on
its location in the layer. E38 C'2 4C is
the newest# 2 is the oldest.
Acti!ity
Put these in order from newest to
oldest 4)ust like it would be on the
sedimentary rock layer5.
!
"
#
$
%
&
U
'
(
)
*
, T
A,
2A
C'2
C'
+C
DE+
FD
This is one possible way to arrange the
cards.
Cow# answer the =uestions in your
notes.
?5 $hich GfossilH 4letter5 is oldest&
@5 $hich GfossilH is youngest&
A5 $hat fossil shows up the most&
B5 $hich fossils were only shown once&
I5 $hich could be inde3 fossils&
J5 *ow can you tell if F or E is older&
$hich GfossilH 4letter5 is oldest&
$hich GfossilH 4letter5 is oldest&
T# because it is
on the bottom
layer to the right
$hich GfossilH is youngest&
$hich GfossilH is youngest&
F# because it is
on the top layer
to the left
$hat fossil shows up the most&
$hat fossil shows up the most&
C
$hich fossils were only shown once&
$hich fossils were only shown once&
F# E and
$hich fossils could be inde3 fossils&
$hich fossils could be inde3 fossils&
F# E and
*ow can you tell if F or E is older&
E is on a layer below
F so it was
deposited earlier
and is the older of
the two.