MAKING A TIMELINE OF LIFE ON EARTH Name: ____________________________

Period: ____
BACKGROUND:
About 4.6 Billion Years Ago (BYA), the Earth was a ball of molten rock. As the surface
cooled, a rocky crust formed and water vapor in the atmosphere condensed to form rain.
By 3.9 BYA, oceans covered much of the earth’s surface. Rocks formed in these oceans
contain fossils of bacterial cells that lived about 3.5 BYA. The fossil record shows a
progression of life-forms and contains evidence of many changes in Earth’s surface and
atmosphere.

In this lab, you will make a timeline showing the major events in Earth’s history and in the
history of Life on Earth, such as the evolution of new groups of organisms and the mass
extinctions. This timeline can be used to study how living things have changed over time.
MATERIALS:
Cash Register Tape 5 meters
Meter Stick and/or Metric Ruler
Colored Pens & Pencils
PROCEDURE:
1. Cut off a 5 meter length of cash register tape.
a. Take the roll of tape into the lab area with a pair of scissors
b. 5 meters has been marked off with blue tape on the floor, use them as a guide to
cut your tape.
2. Label one end “TODAY”
3. Label the other end “5 Billion Years Ago”
a. At this end write your legend “20 cm = 200 million years”
i. 200 Million years also equals 0.2 Billion Years
4. Draw a Bold/Dark line across the tape every meter (M) = 1 Billion Years
5. Draw a lighter line across the tape every 20 centimeters (cm) = 200 million years
6. LOCATE AND LABEL ON YOUR TAPE THE TIME WHEN EARTH WAS FORMED
7. GO TO THE “TODAY” END OF THE TAPE – Using your time marks, count back and:
a. On the left side of the tape, Mark a band of color for the 4 “ERA’s”
b. On the right side of the tape, Mark a band of color each “PERIOD”
8. Research how long ago each of these occurred: (visit website for this chapter for
numerous internet links)
MARK AND LABEL THE FOLLOWING EVENTS:
• Prokaryotes first appear in the fossil record
• Cyanobacteria first appear in the fossil record
• Oxygen enters the atmosphere
• Mass Extinctions, Mark all five
• Eukaryotes first appear in the fossil record
• Multicellular organisms first appear in the fossil record
• Vertebrates first appear in the fossil record
• Land plants first appear in the fossil record
• Land Arthropods first appear in the fossil record
• Land Animals first appear in the fossil record
• Dinosaurs first appear in the fossil record
• Mammals first appear in the fossil record
• Flowering Plants first appear in the fossil record
• Hominids first appear in the fossil record
• Genus Homo first appear in the fossil record
ANALYSIS:
If you have marked your tape properly, you will have 24 segments going back from
“TODAY” (Hour “12:00 pm”) to the 4.8 BYA mark (Hour 24). Think of each mark as 1 hour
(representing 200 million years) in a 24 hour day.

To answer the questions below, count the hours back from “TODAY” (12:00 pm)

1. How long has life existed on Earth? Ans. Since _______o’clock, AM or PM

2. Only unicellular life forms existed between which hours? ____ - ____, AM or PM

3. At which hour did the multicellular life appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min., AM or PM

4. At which hour did the first land plants appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min., AM or PM

5. At which hour did the first land insects appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min., AM or PM

6. At which hour did the first land animals appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min., AM or PM

7. At which hour did the first land reptiles appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min., AM or PM

8. At which hour did the first mammals appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min. , AM or PM

9. At which hour did the Genus Homo first appear on Earth? _____ hr _____ min. , AM or PM

10. How are the mass extinctions related to the appearance of new major groups of organisms?

11. Cyanobacterium are thought to be responsible for the first free oxygen in the Earth’s
atmosphere.

a. Did they both appear at the same time? Circle: Yes or No

b. If “No”, why not?

12. What percentage of time has life existed since Earth formed? _____._____ %

13. What percentage of time has our species, Homo sapiens, existed since Earth formed?

_____._____ %