teacher’s notes
student’s notes
The age of the Earth:
can you believe
everything you read?
Learning objectives:
•
that scientists use evidence to determine
the probable age of the Earth
•
that over time a range of different ideas
has been put forward based upon
different observations
Timing: 40 minutes
Introduction:
Students often think that there is one correct
answer to be found to any particular problem
and that there is no room for different
interpretations of data. In addition they often
do not consider the degree of reliability
afforded to different observations and the
extent to which science can be certain about
the ideas put forward. Finally they rarely
consider the social context and its influence
upon how scientists choose to interpret (or
ignore) data.
This exercise illustrates how people with
specific beliefs may select or misinterpret
scientific evidence to suit the hypothesis they
are supporting. The final message from this
exercise is the extent to which pupils should
be critical of information found on the
internet.
Pupils read the article The age of the Earth: can
you believe everything you read? and answer the
questions based upon it.
Another activity The age of the Earth: the
changing views of science discusses the series of
attempts by scientists to calculate the age of
the Earth, and would ideally be tackled before
this exercise.