KIM JUNG AH BS.

BIOLOGY 4

GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE

Time span of Earth’s past is so great that geologists use the geologic time scale to show earth’s
history. The geologic time scale is a record of the geologic events and the evolution of life forms.

1. fill in the data to show the number of millions of years each era lasted.
THE DIVISIONS OF PERCENT MILLIONS OF YEARS
GEOLOGIC TIME

The age of the earth 100% 4,600 my

Cenozoic Era 1.5% 66 my
Mesozoic Era 4% 185 my
Paleozoic Era 6.5% 291 my
Precambrian Time 88% 4,058 my

2. Create a pie chart to show the percentage of time each Era of geologic time represents in the
Geologic time scale:
Cenozoic Era 1.5%
Mesozoic Era 4%
Paleozoic Era 6.5%
Precambrian Time 88%
KIM JUNG AH BS. BIOLOGY 4

2. What do you notice about the complexity of the fossils as we more through the geological time
scale from Precambrian to quaternary period? What can you conclude from your observation?

Comparing the fossils through the geologic time scale, starting with the Precambrian and going
towards the Quaternary, we can see that the fossils of the animals and the plants have gradually
been becoming more and more complex.
While in the Precambrian period the living organisms have been relatively simple, most of the
animals being covered with exoskeletons, living in water, the diversification much smaller, and
the plants still being very primitive, in the periods that follow there's great changes. The plants
become bigger and more complex, developing new way of life, while the animals develop bone
structures inside their bodies. The diversification explodes. The living organisms grow in size,
develop special and unique features, live in pretty much every environment.