ITS ABOUT TIME AND OTHER EARTH HISTORY ACTIVITIES AT THE EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION NETWORK, KENTUCKY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

The Kentucky Geological Survey's Earth Science Education Network, www.uky.edu/kgs/education/education.html, contains numerous earth history and paleontological classroom activities to aid in understanding geologic time. Activities include (1) “It's About Time”: a collection of standard methods for demonstrating time on paper, a clock, a sports field, basketball court, or parking lot, a series of time lines with different formats, images of prehistoric life and important dates in earth history for use in time lines and student presentations, as well as links to time scales and annotated links to important events in earth history; (2) “Geologic and Paleontologic Cookbook”: recipes for edible earth-history activities and demonstrations in the classroom, (3) “How Fossils Form Activities”: activities that demonstrate different types of fossilization using plaster, glue, candle wax, ink, food, and clay, (4) “Trilobite Masks”: instructions to make cephalon masks from paper plates, (5) “Draw T. rex”: a step-by-step guide that allows students to draw a reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex from a fossil skull in order to illustrate how scientists reconstruct ancient animals based on modern animal anatomy, (6) “Can You Find…”: a search for different types of fossils and prehistoric animals depicted on the popular “Progression of Life” poster, and (7) “Fossil Shapes Extension Activity”: Mesozoic marine fossils in cut stone are examined in a virtual field trip to demonstrate problems with identifying three-dimensional shapes in two dimensions. Many of the activities are cross-linked with the Fossils and Prehistoric Life page www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/webfossl/fosslbig.htm, which contains information on identifying fossils found in Kentucky by type, age, and the area in which they were found. Students can also use one of two keys to identify fossils they have collected. Keys are provided by descriptive terms (beehive, brain, etc.) and by an image table of common shapes. Fossil information is cross-linked to Geologic Time in Kentucky, which provides information about the age of rock strata in Kentucky and provides illustrations of what Kentucky looked like at different times in earth history.