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Mike Tuke’s

A = activity, D = demonstration, E = experiment, Pa = paper exercise,TE = thought experiment. Should be done as I = individual, P = pair, G = group. min = minutes. F = further information.
AGE OF THE EARTH
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Age of the earth 9am 26th October 4004 BC  D F Show students the first page of Genesis in an old Bible.  On the top left hand corner, the first information anyone would read, is Archbishop Ussher’s date for the creation.  It helps explain why everyone was so reluctant to propose an older age. Etna  Pa I F 5 min Students calculate the age of Mt Etna from data on the size and frequency of the recorded lava flows and thus the minimum age of the fossiliferous strata underneath. The Niagara Gorge  Pa I 2 min Students calculate how long it has taken for the gorge to form using current rates of erosion.  Length 10km, current rate of erosion 1.5m per year. Touching the oldest D Pass a large piece of Lewisian Gneiss around the class so that the students can say they have touched the oldest thing in the British Isles, 3,000.000,000 years old. Age of the earth using ocean salinity  TE Students are asked to consider where the major inaccuracies are likely to be in calculating the age of the earth from the volume and salinity of the oceans and the annual flow and salinity of rivers.
Earth Science Activities and Demonstrations