I came across the history of Earth, in terms of geological time, on a 12-inch ruler today. I thought there would be a similar thing for those of us who use centimetres rather than inches… But no!
So, I present to you – the history of Earth in geological time on a 30cm ruler! You’ll never look at the classic and ubiquitous piece of stationary the same way again 😉
Click on it to bring up a larger image to read the text…
Original source (12-inch version): https://mikefarinha.wordpress.com/2006/09/27/a-brief-history-of-the-earth/
Since all GCSE Geography students need to know about the ‘Quaternary Period’ (section 16 of the DfE’s GCSE Geography content requirements), using the trusty 30cm ruler to demonstrate what that actually looks like in geological time is very useful.
If you’re on the look-out for visualisations that attempt to contextualise geological time in a way that is comprehensible to a human lifetime, try these:
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Published by Kit Marie Rackley (they/she)
Kit Marie Rackley (they/she) is an award-winning ex high-school Geography teacher in the UK. Throughout that time and continuing today, Kit Marie provides teacher continuous professional development (CPD) and training, which previously included a role as Associate Tutor for the School of Education at the University of East Anglia.
Kit Marie has worked as an education consultant and project manager with climate and energy scientists, including researchers based at NOAA Boulder, Colorado and as an educator and trainer at the Exploratorium Museum in San Francisco, California, and is now freelance consultant with the UK’s Geographical Association and the National Association of School-Based Teacher Trainers (NASBTT). They are a published educational author, including works with National Geographic Kids and Diverse Educators.
Kit Marie is a strong and passionate advocate of youth voice and empowerment, decolonising the curriculum, and inclusive and intersectional education. Much of their work revolves around the climate crisis, focusing around framing it as a school safeguarding issue. Kit Marie runs an educational resource blog at Geogramblings.com, and is host and producer of the Coffee & Geography podcast.
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