Unpacked Content
Scientific and Engineering Practices
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts
Systems and System Models
Knowledge
Students know:
- The early Earth and other objects in the solar system were bombarded by impacts. (combined 2)
- Erosion and plate tectonics on Earth have destroyed much of the evidence of bombardment by impacts, explaining the scarcity of impact craters on Earth.
- Earth's plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart based on evidence of ancient land and water patterns found in rocks and fossils.
- The geological time scale interpreted from rock strata provides a way to organize Earth's history.
- Major historical events include the formation of mountain chains and ocean basins, the evolution and extinction of particular living organisms, volcanic eruptions, periods of massive glaciation, and development of watersheds and rivers through glaciation and water erosion.
Skills
Students are able to:
- Identify age and composition of Earth's oldest rocks and meteorites as determined by radiometric dating.
- Use evidence to organize the components of the model including a geographical scale showing the geological and biological history of Earth.
- Describe relationships in the model between components in the model, such as the age and composition of Earth's oldest rocks as determined by radiometric dating, observations of size and distribution of impact craters on the surface of the Earth, and the activity of plate tectonic processes operating on the Earth, sedimentary layering, fossilization, early life forms, folding, faulting, and igneous intrusions.
Understanding
Students understand that:
- Analyses of rock formations and the fossil record are used to establish relative ages.
- Radiometric ages of lunar rocks, meteorites and the oldest Earth rocks point to the creation of a solid Earth crust about 4.4 billion years ago.
- Other planetary surfaces and their patterns of impact cratering can be used to infer that Earth had many impact craters early in history.
- Processes such as volcanism, plate tectonics, and erosion have reshaped Earth's surface.
