Lesson 5: Radiometric Dating and Earth’s Age
Duration of Days: 4
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to explain how radiometric dating works and use scientific data to determine the relative and absolute age of rocks and fossils.
-How do scientists determine the age of rocks and fossils?
-What is radiometric dating and how does it work?
-What is the difference between relative and absolute dating?
-How do half-lives help determine age?
-Why is radiometric dating important for understanding Earth’s history?
-Radiometric dating
-Isotope
-Radioactive decay
-Half-life
-Parent material
-Daughter material
-Absolute age
-Relative age
-Decay rate
HS-ESS1-4 – Use rock strata and fossil evidence to explain Earth’s history.
NGSS Crosscutting Concepts
-Patterns
-Cause and Effect
-Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
-Students will analyze decay graphs and half-life data.
-Students will interpret radiometric dating results to determine ages of materials.
-Students will construct explanations using numerical evidence.
Students will explore how radiometric dating allows scientists to determine the age of Earth materials. Through simulations and calculations, students will apply half-life concepts to real-world dating problems.
Activities may include:
-Half-life simulation activities
-Radiometric dating calculations
-Graph interpretation of decay rates
-Comparing relative vs absolute dating methods
Purpose: Develop quantitative understanding of Earth’s age using scientific dating methods
DOK Level: 3–4 – Strategic Thinking to Extended Thinking
-Archaeology and historical dating
-Geology careers and Earth science research
-Understanding human history in relation to Earth’s timeline
-Radiometric dating is only used for fossils
-All rocks can be dated directly
-Half-life changes over time
-Dating gives exact human-level precision
-Step-by-step half-life guides
-Visual decay models
-Calculator-supported practice
-Partner problem solving
-Graph interpretation scaffolds
-Half-life calculations
-Radiometric dating problems
-Exit tickets on relative vs absolute age
-Data interpretation tasks
-Half-life simulations
-Decay curve graphs
-Radiometric dating worksheets
-Visual models of isotopes