Tuesday, January 16 Bell Work Today is the start of a new term and a new unit. Make at least three goals that will help you to get good grades. Describe how you will make sure you do these goals.

How old do scientists think the earth is? 4.5 billion years old 4.5 Billion Years Old

How long has life existed on the Earth? 3.6 Billion Years

How old do scientists think the Trilobite is? 4.5 billion years old 540 Million Years Old

Wednesday, January 17 Bell Work Why do you think there wasn't life on the Earth as soon as it was formed?

How does geologic evidence show the age of the earth? We can study the thickness and the fossils in old rock layers.

What is the 3 laws of relative dating?

How does radioactive dating show the age of the earth? Certain atoms “decay,” or break down, at a predictable rate. We can tell how old a rock is by how much certain atoms inside it have decayed.

Thursday, January 18 Bell Work Without looking at your timeline, how long do you think it's been since dinosaurs roamed the earth? Since the last ice age? Since humans showed up?

The earth’s crust is made up of lots of large, slow-moving plates. What is the theory of plate tectonics, and the 4 forms of interaction between them? The earth’s crust is made up of lots of large, slow-moving plates. The interaction between them is convergences, divergence, transform and subduction.

How has the movement of earth's plates affected the distribution of organisms? When plates separate, the organisms are separated and speciation occurs. When plates collide, they combine to form a new continent. The organisms from these two plates begin to interact.

What is the 3 types of volcanoes we have talked about in class Cinder cone, shield and composite.

Monday, January 22 Bell Work Describe your progress on your science fair project. Describe what you can do to improve your project this week. Describe one thing you can do to make sure you keep this goal.

Traces of a plant or animal that is preserved in rock. What is a fossil? Traces of a plant or animal that is preserved in rock.

Tuesday, January 23 Bell Work How do you think fossils can help scientists put together a timeline of Earth's history?

What are cast and mold fossils and how are they formed? Mold fossils are when all or part of an organism leaves an imprint in the sand or dirt.

A cast fossil occurs when a mold is slowly filled in with minerals. This makes a shape that looks like the real organism, except it is made of rock.

Wednesday, January 24 Bell Work What is a mold fossil? What is a cast fossil?

What is a bio-film or carbon fossils? How are they formed? This happens when an organism is squished between two rock layers, leaving an imprint on the layers.

What are trace fossils? How are they formed? Trace fossils are not fossils of the actual organism, but instead traces they left behind (like burrows, footprints, or poop).

Thursday, January 25 Bell Work Describe at least three conditions that might prevent a fossil from forming, or from staying intact until they're found.

What are preserved remains or “true form fossils”? How are they formed? True form fossils are the real organism, somehow preserved for millions of years. They are usually trapped in amber or frozen in ice.

What can fossils tell us about Earth's past? They can tell us about how both the earth and its organisms have changed over time.

Era Epoch/period Cenezoic Quaternary Tertiary Mesozoic Cretaceous # of Million Years Ago Cenezoic Quaternary 0-5 Tertiary 5-65 Mesozoic Cretaceous 65-140 Jurassic 140-210 Triassic 210-245 Paleozoic Permian 245-290 Carboniferous 290-360 Devonian 360-410 Silurian 410-440 Ordovician 440-550 Cambrian 500-570 Precambrian 570-4600

Monday, January 29 Bell Work Your science fair project is due in 8 days! Make three goals that will help you finish you project on time AND get an A.

Tuesday, Feb 16th Bell Work Why is it important to learn how earth has changed in the past?

Wednesday, Feb 17 Bell Work Why do you think a lot of kids learn about dinosaurs, but not about fossils from other eras?

Thursday, February 1 Bell Work It is believed that millions of years ago the continents were all one big continent. How could fossils support this theory?

Monday, February 5 Bell Work You have a test tomorrow, and your science fair project is due on Wednesday. Make at least three goals that will help you succeed on both of these.

Tuesday, February 6 Bell Work Pick a definition from your notes from this unit that you have had the hardest time remembering. Write it down on your bell work.

LAST MINUTE SCIENCE FAIR STUFF Make sure you did at least 15 trials. Make sure you have the steps of the scientific method on your poster (make sure you have a question, hypothesis, plan, etc.) Make sure you have a journal or logbook of your experiment. Make sure your name is on your poster!

Wednesday, February 7 Bell Work Least three things you think are important to do or say when you present your science fair project.

Thursday, February 8 Bell Work Why is it important to do research before starting a science experiment? List three reasons.