Key concept: Understanding and remembering order of events and time line for Earth’s geological and biological history.

This is the handout for an exercise I do in my evolution class to get the students to:
1) understand the different time scales we deal with when we look at Earth’s geologic and evolutionary history, and
2) remember when things happened by relating it to their own body, and
3) understand that human history can be erased with just one stroke with a nail file  on the outermost fingernail using this timeline.

This movement exercise really puts time and history into perspective for the students.

How to: “I have the students stand up and hold their arms out in the classroom while showing this image on the screen and we walk through each event by moving or bending that particular part of the body (finger, hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, head, shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, finger…).   The student also gets a handout of the image. ” (Lena Struwe)

Credit: Dr. Lena Struwe, Rutgers University, idea, visuals, and pdf handout.

Download the pdf (1 page in color):

Earth's timeline on your body - geology stretch (479 downloads)