A+Trip+Through+Geologic+Time+Sandbox

= Fossils: = **Virtual Dinosaur Dig**- In this interactive, you will be able to find a virtual fossil, learn how vertebrate paleontologists excavate the specimen, and excavate your very own specimen. **Making Fossils** -A once living organism must go on a lengthy journey before it can reappear at the surface as a fossil. It's __**very**__ rare that all the conditions are right for this strange process to happen. In this activity, choose a journey from the buttons at the top of the screen and see if you are lucky enough to make a fossil!
 * Mold & Cast Fossil Animation** -This site has a good animation of how a fossil forms. Be sure to click over the animation to stop it at anytime.

**Fossil Fun!- Burying Bodies** -A lot about what we have learned about the Earth's history comes from its fossil record. This activity helps you understand what are the perfect conditions in order for a fossil to be formed. Click and drag the dead beast in this activity and place it in different parts of the picture to see what happens!

= Relative Age: =


 * Relative Rock Layers** -Help work out the relative ages of the layers of sedimentary rocks.
 * Using Index Fossils** -As you may recall from class, index fossils are fossils of organisms that were from species that existed for ** short periods of time **, were ** abundant **, and were ** widespread geographically **. In this activity, begin with the "Rock Layer Formation" mode to watch how the rock layers formed with various organisms fossilizing in the different layers. Then go to the "Identify Rock Layers" mode. Click & drag the different colored squares onto the correct rock layers by using the index fossils to determine the relative age of each rock layer.
 * What Causes an Unconformity?** -This animation does an incredible job of explaining what happens when the layers of rock have a HUGE gap of geological time missing from them.
 * Grand Canyon Explorer** -This site does an awesome job of explaining a lot of the common questions that students have about the Grand Canyon.... How did it form? Where did all of the rock come from? Why does it look like it does? When did all of this happen?
 * Photos from the Grand Canyon** -The National Park Service has posted LOTS of great photos to enjoy. Click on any of the thumbnails for larger pictures.

= Radioactive Dating: = Click on the game below to learn more about half-life, radioactive decay, and measurement. After learning, try the game to see if you can determine the age of the objects in the dating game. media type="custom" key="22538260" = The Geologic Time Scale: =


 * Create Your Own Universe Timeline** -Did you realize that the universe is between 13 and 15 billion years old? See if you can place the events in the correct order in which they happened.
 * Comprehending Geologic Time** -It's hard to imagine just how long humans have been on this planet, especially when you put it in the context of the whole history of the Earth. This is a great activity that gives us a better understanding of just how short a period of time that humans have been on this Earth.
 * Rockman's Geological Time Chart** -This site does an excellent job of describing and displaying all of the different geological time periods. Also, be sure to check out Rockman's [|rock cycle page].

= Understanding Geologic Time: =


 * Understanding Geologic Time... A Chapter Review** -Use this link to review and help you better understand the Chapter 4 "A Trip Through Geologic Time" concepts.