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Geologic Time Scale. Time Scale. How could you break your life down into smaller portions of time?. One way is to use a timeline. Your Time Scale. Here’s a Timeline. Start. Finish. How could we break your life into smaller pieces? What would be a good length of time to use?. YEARS.
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Time Scale • How could you break your life down into smaller portions of time? One way is to use a timeline
Your Time Scale Here’s a Timeline Start Finish • How could we break your life into smaller pieces? What would be a good length of time to use? YEARS
Geologic Time Scale • Geologists do the same thing with the life of the Earth. It’s called the Geologic Time Scale. • It’s a lot different because we are talking about 4.6 billion years, not 13 or 14 years. • But the idea is the same.
Geologic Time Scale Now 4.6 Billion Years Ago • How could we break the Earth’s life into smaller pieces? • How about this? Each rectangle is a different piece of time.
Geologic Time Scale • The portions of time are not the same size, but that’s okay. • The LEFT portion is called Precambrian Time. • The RIGHT portion is called Present Time
Precambrian Time • Precambrian Time covers about 88% of the life of the Earth. It started when the Earth was born (4.6 billion years ago) and goes all the way up to 544 million years ago.
Present Time • Let’s focus only on the RIGHT part called Present Time. It began 544 million years ago and continues today. • A lot of cool stuff happened during this time so Scientists have broken it down into smaller pieces called ERAS.
Precambrian Time Paleozoic Era Mesozoic Era Cenozoic Era These Eras Have Names All I did was flip our timescale on its side.
What do these names mean? • Paleozoic – means ancient or early life. It began about 544 million years ago and lasted until 245 million years ago. • Mesozoic – means middle life. It began about 245 million years ago and lasted until 66 million years ago. • Cenozoic – means recent life. It began about 66 million years ago and continues today.
Could we break the Eras up into smaller pieces of time? • YES • Geologists break Eras up into PERIODS