Earth Timeline: High School Science Activity!

Ready-To-Use High School Science Activity

“Everything changes and nothing stands still,” said the Greek philosopher Heraclitus…and wow has the Earth changed! Explore the geology of the Earth and its various forms throughout time with your high school science class. We’ve got you covered with classroom strategies, activities, resources, and graphic organizers.

Looking for different level and subject-area activities? 

SCIENCE ACTIVITIES: Making STEM Accessible

Elementary Level Science: 1, 2, 3…Erosion! (Grades PreK-2) AND Light, Bright (Grades 3-5)

Middle Level Science: Alternative Sources of Energy

SOCIAL STUDIES ACTIVITIES: Exploring Hispanic Heritage

Elementary Level Social Studies: Life in Mexico (Grades PreK-2) AND Mayan Exploration (Grades 3-5)

Middle Level Social Studies: Latin American Travel Agent

High Level Social Studies: Biographies of Independence

In each activity, we share suggested resources from Britannica’s newest classroom tool, LaunchPacks: ScienceYou can get free 30-day access now by taking a Packs: Science free trial, or you can use the activity, questions, and free, downloadable graphic organizer with your own classroom resources.

Grades 9-12 Science Activity: Timeline of the Earth

Overview: Students will use the articles within the pack to generate a timeline of the Earth.

Suggested Resources:

• LaunchPacks Science: Timeline of the Earth for Grades 9-12

• Graphic Organizer: Timeline

• Graphic Organizer: Visual Timeline

Strategy: Timeline or Visual Timeline

Activity: Students will read through each article and take notes / outline the geologic history of Earth.  Students will need to clearly lay out the Earth’s development and various stages on the graphic organizer handed out by the teacher.  The teacher can decide whether to use Graphic Organizer: Visual Timeline or Graphic Organizer: Timeline.

Suggested Questions:

• Which period of geologic time is the most interesting to you?  Why?

• What is stratigraphy?  How does it help us figure out the timeline of the Earth?

• Continental drift is the theory of continents moving over time.  Imagine that you can suddenly see millions and millions of years into the future – what will the continents look like in 500 million years?

Possible Extension: On the back of the completed timeline, make note of the critical developments of each of the stages of Earth’s history.  Make sure to include life forms that developed (plants, animals), new landforms that developed in each stage, any other major developments from each stage.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn

Jennifer Keating

Senior Professional Development Specialist
Britannica Education

Recent Posts

AI In Education:
Introduction

AI and Why It Matters Ready or not, here it comes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept; it’s here, stirring up both excitement about new opportunities—and plenty

Let us help you!

Find out how Expedition: Learn! can accelerate your students’ learning.

Let Britannica help build the right training plan for your staff.

Let us help you!

Find out how Expedition: Learn! can accelerate your students’ learning.

Expedition: Learn! Scope & Sequence

Click to expand

View the available lessons for elementary and middle school science and social studies

Expedition: Learn! Languages

Spanish, Arabic, French, and 100+ more...

Spanish

Arabic

French

And 100+ more...

Translations available in 100+ languages for each lesson

Expedition: Learn! Reading Levels

Choose between 4 reading levels to meet the needs of every learner

Expedition: Learn! Spark Video

Each Expedition: Learn! Lesson begins with a video to spark students’ interest in the topic

COMING SOON!

Britannica Expedition: Learn!

Ignite the spark of curiosity and accelerate learning

You are reading a Middle School level article.

For Elementary or High School reading levels, please contact us.