Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Region III – Central Luzon
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF CITY OF BALANGA
BATAAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL – SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
City of Balanga, Bataan

LESSON 3: HISTORY OF LIFE ON EARTH

INTRODUCTION
The Earth is around 4.5 billion years old. What was Earth like million years ago? When did the first living
organism evolved? By studying the Earth’s geological timeline, we will be able to trace the processes by which
fossils and living organisms have evolved since the time that life started until the present day.
The Earth’s history is divided into eons, eras, periods, and epochs. The geologic time scale is a record of the
life forms and geological events in Earth’s history. Scientists
developed the time scale by developing by studying the rock layers and fossils worldwide. Radioactive dating
was used to determine the absolute divisions in the time scale.
The Geological Time Scale (GTS)

• the division of Earth’s history into smaller units of time

• made up of eras, periods, and (sometimes) epochs

1. Pre-Cambrian Time: 4600 MYA – 544 MYA (not divided into any periods)
2. Paleozoic Era: 544 MYA – 248 MYA (7 periods in the Paleozoic Era)
3. Mesozoic Era: 248 MYA – 66 MYA (3 periods in the Mesozoic Era)
→ Triassic Period
→ Jurassic Period
→ Cretaceous Period
4. Cenozoic Era: 66 MYA – present day (2 periods in the Cenozoic Era)
→ Tertiary Period
- 5 epochs
→ Quaternary Period
- 2 epochs
Seatwork#1
A. SEQUENCING EVENTS: In Column A, rearrange the events by writing numbers from 1 (first) to 13 (last).
In Column B, indicate the eras in which they took place.
A B
a. first trilobites evolved _________ ________________________
b. the Jurassic Period began _________ ________________________
c. early bacteria (first life) are present _________ ________________________
d. the Himalaya Mountains formed _________ ________________________
e. first birds appeared _________ ________________________
f. first amphibians evolved _________ ________________________
g. first reptiles evolved _________ ________________________
h. first fish evolved _________ ________________________
i. first land plants evolved _________ ________________________
j. the 1st mass extinction took place _________ ________________________
k. the 2nd mass extinction took place (dinos) _________ ________________________
l. Pangaea broke up _________ ________________________
m. present day _________ ________________________

B. Give what is being asked.

1. How old is the earth in human years?

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. For what percentage of time has life existed on Earth? (round to the nearest whole number)
_____________________________________________________________________________

3. Arrange the following terms in order of the length of time they represent.
Place the longest time interval first: period, era, epoch
_____________________________________________________________________________

4. What period of time does human existed on Earth?

_____________________________________________________________________________

5. What is the purpose of making a geological timeline?

_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________