EARTH SCIENCE

QUARTER 2
WEEK 4.2

HISTORY OF THE EARTH

Prepared By: MERYROSE FLORES DIZON

CADUANG TETE NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL (CLUSTER 7)

GUIDE CARD
The Palaeontological Record
Have you ever wandered around a museum and stood beneath the fossilized bones of a
Tyrannosaurus rex? Fossilized bones provide evidence that dinosaurs and other ancient
organisms existed. A fossil forms when a bone or other hard body part is quickly covered by
mud, sand, or other sediments, and after long periods of time, the bones absorb minerals from the
Earth and become petrified.
The history of life on Earth is
recorded in rock strata which may be
compared to the pages of a book.
Unfortunately, the earliest pages of the
book are illegible, and a number of other
pages are missing.
Fossil Evidence
The study of fossils
(palaeontology), together with other
geological and biological evidence,
provide information on the history of the
Earth and the evolution of life. Fossils
provide evidence about the relative ages
of rock strata, palaeoenvironments and
evolution of life. The fossil record has
been used to develop the worldwide
geological time-scale. Organisms may
leave traces of their existence in the
sediments formed during, or shortly after
their lifetimes. The best
estimate for Earth's age is based on the
radiometric dating of fragments from the
Canyon Diablo iron meteorite.
Features of the Fossil Record
Below is a list of some of the significant features of the fossil record as we know it today:
1. The oldest known fossils, of single-celled organisms, are from about 3800-3500 Ma.
2. Evolution proceeded very slowly at first. The oldest known fossils of multicellular
organisms are the Ediacaran fauna (580 to 550 Ma) of the Flinders Ranges, South
Australia. The first organisms with hard parts evolved during the Cambrian era, when
there was a 'sudden' increase in the number and diversity of living organisms — the
Cambrian Explosion.
3. The rate of evolution has been ever-increasing. More organisms have evolved in the 60
million years of the Cainozoic era than in the whole of geological time before the
beginning of the Cainozoic.
4. Evolution has not proceeded at a uniform rate. There have been intervals during which a
large number of new life forms has evolved (e.g. the Cambrian Explosion), and periods
of sudden extinction of many life forms.
5. Life forms have evolved from simple to more complex: from single celled organisms to
humans. Within a group of organisms, such as ammonites, the same tendency has been
noted. The earliest members of the group to evolve were much simpler in form and
structure than those that evolved later.
6. Increasing diversity – from a few species of single – celled organisms to the enormous
variety of life on Earth today.
7. Organisms have succeeded each other in a sequence that is the same in all parts of the
world.
Example: Trilobite fossils are always older than ammonite fossils, regardless where
these fossils are found. Once an organism disappears from the fossil record, it never
reappears in younger strata. It has gone forever!
A group which became extinct, may have been replaced by another and more
'modern' group of organisms.

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE EARTH’S HISTORY

4600 mya (million years ago) – Planet Earth formed. The dust left over from the birth of the
sun clumped together to form planet Earth. The other planets in our solar system were also
formed in this way at about the same time.
4500 mya – Earth’s core and crust formed. Dense metals sank to the centre of the Earth and
formed the core, while the outside layer cooled and solidified to form the Earth’s crust.
4400 mya – The Earth’s first oceans formed. Water vapour was released into the Earth’s
atmosphere by volcanism. It then cooled, fell back down as rain, and formed the Earth’s first
oceans. Some water may also have been brought to Earth by comets and asteroids.
3850 mya – The first life appeared on Earth. It was a very simple single-celled organism. The
exact way how life first arose is a mystery.
1500 mya – Oxygen began to accumulate in the Earth’s atmosphere. Oxygen is made by
cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) as a product of photosynthesis. For 2,200 million years, this
oxygen was removed from the atmosphere as it reacted with iron, sank to the bottom of the sea
and became trapped in rock layers. 1,500 million years ago the free iron ran out and oxygen
began to be released into the atmosphere.
700 mya – The first animals evolved. These were simple single-celled animals. 530 mya – The
first vertebrates (fish) evolved.
400 mya – The first land plants evolved. Oxygen in the atmosphere reacted to form ozone,
which formed a layer. This served as a protective barrier to the harmful rays coming from space
and which allowed plants to colonise the land.
350 mya – The first land vertebrates evolved. With plants present on the land to provide a
food source, animals rapidly followed. The first to venture onto the land were primitive
amphibians, and reptiles evolved soon afterwards.
225 mya – The first dinosaurs evolved from lizards.
65 mya – The dinosaurs went extinct. The dinosaurs, and many other species with them, were
wiped out by the after-effects of a meteorite impact, or perhaps several impacts. The impact(s)
set off chains of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions, which threw lots of dust and acid
into the atmosphere, creating an impactful winter. The dust blocked out the sunlight so plants
could no longer photosynthesise, and food chains collapsed. After the extinction of the dinosaurs,
mammals evolved rapidly and filled the evolutionary niches they left behind.
130,000 years ago (0.13 mya) – Modern humans evolved. Homo sapiens evolved in Africa
from earlier humans. They left Africa around 35,000 years ago and spread around the globe.
Human evolution is still pretty mysterious, due to gaps in the fossil record.

LEARNING COMPETENCY
LC: describe the history of the Earth through geologic time
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
● explain the relationship between the fossil record and the eras in the geological time-
scale; and
● explain why the fossil record is inevitably incomplete, especially for organisms that lived
more than 600 million years ago.
PRE- TEST
Self- check
DIRECTIONS: Answer the question in your notebook.
1. How did the Geologists describe the rate of geologic change?

Self-Assessment: How sure are you of your answer?

True or False. Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is incorrect. Write your
answer in your notebook.
1. The Earth is thousands of millions years old.
_______________________________________________________________________.
2. Oxygen has been in our atmosphere since the Earth was formed.
_______________________________________________________________________.

3. Animals colonised the land before the plants did.

_______________________________________________________________________.
 4. Plants were the first life on Earth.
_______________________________________________________________________.

5. The first animals with backbones were fish.

_______________________________________________________________________.

6. Modern humans have only been around the Earth for 6,000 years.
_______________________________________________________________________.

Essential Question: What is the geologic time

VOCABULARY REVIEW scale?
Real-world reading link

A December 2017 report stated that 3.465-

Geology: This refers to the scientific
study of the origin, history, and structure
of Earth and the processes that shape it.
Geologic Time Scale: The standard
method used to divide Earth’s long
natural history into manageable parts.
billion-year-old Australian Apex chert rocks once
contained microorganisms (stromatolites),
the earliest direct evidence of life on Earth. On the
other hand, a 2013 publication announced the
discovery of microbial mat fossils in 3.48 billion-
year-old sandstone in Western Australia.
FOSSILS are preserved remains of living
organisms. Minerals have replaced the carbon-based
structure within the mould, or the organism has left
an impression in the rocks. They may be preserved in
rocks formed from sediments that were deposited in
a wide variety of environments. The organism,
generally, must have hard parts such as shell, bone,
teeth, or wood tissue; the remains must escape
destruction after death; and the remains must be
buried rapidly to stop decomposition. This does
make the fossil record biased because animals with
soft bodies are less likely to form fossils.
TRACE FOSSILS are disruptions of
sediments caused by the normal activities of animals.
Examples of these are footprints, feeding traces,
worm burrows or coprolites (fossilized faeces).

ACTIVITY CARD 1
TRY IT OUT!
DIRECTIONS: Read and answer the statements below.
Write your answers in your notebook.
1. Explain the difference between a fossil and a trace fossil.
2. Give one piece of evidence which suggests that the fossil record is incomplete.
3. Give the age and one essential characteristic of the oldest known fossils.

Discussion
 Activity 1 works on explaining the relationship between the fossil records. We also looked
back at the eras in the geological time-scale. Below are flowcharts that explain the geological
timeline.

Oxygen accumulated
Oceans formed Life Appeared
in the atmosphere

Animals moved onto Plants colonised the The ozone layer

the land land formed

Dinosaurs evolved Humans evolved

ACTIVITY CARD 2
DIRECTIONS: The diagram below shows that at several times, during the Earth’s history, there
were several major extinction events (of very large numbers of groups of organisms).
Guide Questions: (To be answered in your notebook)
1. State the number of years before 2000, when there were very high numbers of
extinctions.
2. Describe three types of conditions that increase the likelihood of an organism being
fossilized, rather than decaying after death.
3. Suggest several reasons that make marine organisms have the most abundant fossils.
DISCUSSION OF ACTIVITY
Geologic Time Scale Basics
The history of the Earth covers
a vast expanse of time, so scientists
divided it into smaller sections that are
associated with particular events that
have occurred in the past. The
approximate time range of each time
span is shown in the poster. The
largest time span of the geologic time
scale is the eon. It is an indefinitely
long period of time that contains at
least two eras. Geologic time is
divided into two eons. The more
ancient eon is called the Precambrian,
and the more recent is the
Phanerozoic. Each eon is subdivided into smaller spans called eras. The Precambrian eon is
divided from most ancient up to the Hadean era, Archean era, and Proterozoic era.
Precambrian Eon
 Proterozoic Era 2500 - 550 million years ago

Archaean Era 3800 - 2500 million years ago

Hadean Era 4600 - 3800 million years ago

The single-celled and simple multicelled organisms first developed during the
Precambrian eon. There are many fossils from this time because the sea-dwelling creatures were
trapped in sediments and were preserved. The Phanerozoic eon is subdivided into three eras – the
Paleozoic era, Mesozoic era, and Cenozoic era. An era is often divided into several smaller time
spans called periods. For example, the Paleozoic era is divided into the Cambrian, Ordovician,
Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods.
Paleozoic Era

Permian Period 300 - 250 million years ago

Carboniferous Period 350 - 300 million years ago

Devonian Period 400 - 350 million years ago

Silurian Period 450 - 400 million years ago

Ordovician Period 500 - 450 million years ago

Cambrian Period 550 - 500 million years ago

 The Mesozoic Era contains the Triassic,Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, as illustrated in
Figure 3. It is often called the Age of the Dinosaurs because of its famous inhabitants.
Mesozoic Era

Cretaceous Period 150 - 65 million years ago

Jurassic Period 200 - 150 million years ago

Triassic Period 250 - 200 million years ago

The two periods of the Cenozoic Era are the Tertiary and Quaternary. A period is divided
into an even smaller unit called an epoch. The Tertiary period of the Cenozoic era comprises the
Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene, and Pliocene. On the other hand, the Quaternary period
of the Cenozoic era includes the Pleistocene and Holocene (Recent) epochs. See Figure 4.
Cenozoic Era

Quaternary Period 2 million years ago - present

Recent (or Halocene) 0.01 million years ago - present

Pleistocene 2 - 0.01 million years ago

Tertiary Period 65 - 0.01 million years ago

Pliocene 5 - 2 million years ago

Miocene 25 - 5 million years ago

Oligocene 35 - 25 million years ago

Eocene 55 - 35 million years ago

Paleocene 65 - 55 million years ago

ENRICHMENT CARD
DIRECTIONS: Match the description with the appropriate subdivision of the geologic time
scale. Use each term once. Write your answers in your notebook.
Description Term
1. _____ Hadean, Archaean, and Proterozoic A. Paleozoic
2. _____ Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous B. Cenozoic
3. _____ Tertiary and Quaternary C. Precambrian
4. _____ Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, D. Mesozoic
Carboniferous, and Permian

REFLECTION CARD 1
How did geologists come up with the timeline of Earth’s history? Over the course of
many years and through the combined work of geologists around the world, the geologic time
scale was developed. No rock record in any single place contains the complete sequence of rocks
from Precambrian to present. Geology, as a science, grew as geologists studied individual
sections of rock. Gradually, geologists discovered evolutionary successions of fossils that helped
them determine the relative ages of the groups of rocks. Rock units were then correlated with
similarly aged rock units from around the world.
ASSESSMENT CARD 1
Directions: Answer the following questions in your notebook.

1. Which of the following represents the longest period of time in the geologic time scale?
A. Cenozoic C. Paleozoic
B. Mesozoic D. Precambrian
2. All of the following are included in the Paleozoic period, EXCEPT :
A. Jurassic C. Ordovician
B. Mississippian D. Permian
3. The _________ is an era dominated by the dinosaurs.
A. Cenozoic C. Paleozoic
B. Mesozoic D. Precambrian
4. Which scientific avenue of investigation gave scientists the best estimate of the age of the
Earth?
 A. archaeological dating C. dating fossils
B. carbon dating D. radiometric dating
5. Which of the following was used by geologists to determine the relative ages in a rock
sequence?
A. Cenozoic C. Mesozoic
B. Fossils D. Precambrian

ANSWER CARD
The time span of the Earth’s past is so great that geologists use the geologic time scale to
show Earth’s history. The geologic time scale is a record of the geologic events and the evolution
of life forms.

True or False
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. True
6. False

Activity Card 1
1. Fossils can be actual preserved remains of an organism like a fossil fish. It can also
include the teeth, bones and shells. Trace fossils are usually tracks, burrows and other
indications of the movement of an organism.
2. Sediment has to cover an organism's remains in order for the long fossilization process to
begin. Most organisms decompose before this can happen. Fossilization odds increase if
the organism happened to exist in large numbers or lived in or around sediment.
3. Stromatolites - 3.48 billion-year-old
Activity Card 2
1. 1900 and 1950
2. The organism, generally, must have hard parts such as shell, bone, teeth, or wood tissue;
the remains must escape destruction after death; and the remains must be buried rapidly
to stop decomposition. This does make the fossil record biased because animals with soft
bodies are less likely to form fossils.
3. Most fossils are found in sedimentary rocks which were produced by the accumulation of
sediment such as sand or mud. Wind and other weathering conditions wash away
sediment on land, depositing it in bodies of water.
Enrichment card
1. C 2. D 3. B 4. A
Assessment Card
1. D 2. A 3. B 4. D 5. B