Warm-up: Which type of plate

boundary is along the western

African coast at the end of the
animation? Along the eastern
African coast at the same time?

Geologic Time Scale

1) What is the Geologic Time
Scale?
2) How are biological and
geological events used to
establish the Geologic Time
Scale?

Vocabulary
Geologic Time scale: the standard
method used to divide the Earths long
natural history into manageable parts.
Divisions based on evidence from the
fossil record.
Time measured from the present (ie.
Millions of years ago mya)

 Era: a unit of geologic time that includes two or

more periods
The Era you must know..
Cenozoic Era: era that began about 66 million
years ago, known as the Age of Mammals. It is
the current era.
Mesozoic era: era that began 245 million years
ago, known as the age of the dinosaurs and
lasted for almost 180 million years.
Paleozoic era: era that began about 544 million
years ago and lasted for almost 300 million years

Period: a subdivision of the eras in

geologic time (divides the Eras
based on geologic or biological
events in the fossil record)
Epoch: a subdivision of a geologic
period (divides the periods based
on geologic or biological events in
the fossil record)

Extinction Rate: the rate at which

species die of
Mass extinction: occurs when a
large proportion of the earths
species go extinct in a relatively
short period of time.

Biological and Geological Events

Mapping
Look at the event template we want to end-up

recording these in order, oldest events

at the bottom of each column,
youngest at the top (just like with
Superposition)
All these items need to be included on your charts.
You should already be able to place some of the events
because I have mentioned them
Use the information in Ch 8, Section 5 and 6 to find
where the rest of the information belongs.

Major Biological and Geological Events

Organizer

Precambrian 4.6
bya to 544 mya

Paleozoic 544 to
245 mya

Mesozoic 245 to
66 mya

Geological

Geological

Geological

Earth began
Oceans form and
cover the Earth

Cenozoic 66 mya
to present

Geological

Shallow seas
cover much of the
land

Hot, dry
Rocky Mountains
conditions
and Himalayas
dominate Pangaea form

Coral reefs
develop

Pangaea splits

Seas rise and fall

over North
America
Appalachian
mountains form
Pangaea forms

Widespread
volcanic activity

Continental
glaciers cover
Antarctica
Ice age ends

Major Biological and Geological Events

Organizer

Precambrian 4.6
bya to 544 mya

Paleozoic 544 to 245

mya

Mesozoic 245 to
66 mya

Biological

Biological

Biological

Bacteria appear
Soft-bodied multicellular organisms
appear

Cenozoic 66
mya to present

Biological

Great explosion of
invertebrates in the sea

Dinosaurs
appear

First grasses
appear

Trilobites appear

Largest
dinosaurs thrive

Humans
appear

Dinosaurs
become extinct

Mammals,
flowering plants,
and insects
dominate the
land

Land plants appear

Insects and spiders
appear
Age of fish begins
First reptiles appear
Trilobites become extinct