Radiometric dating lesson activities cairu online dating

This game can be downloaded for play on computers in classrooms, or it can be played online.

This game is also translated into dozens of languages ranging from Arabic to Vietnamese.

There are two basic approaches: relative age dating, and absolute age dating.

Here is an easy-to understand analogy for your students: relative age dating is like saying that your grandfather is older than you.

Say for example that a volcanic dike, or a fault, cuts across several sedimentary layers, or maybe through another volcanic rock type.

Pretty obvious that the dike came after the rocks it cuts through, right?

The college also offers a game that simulates radioactive decay using dice.

Use colored beads to simulate rocks and fossils in a radiometric dating game.

Carleton College's Education Department's website has instructions for a hands-on radiometric dating activity.

You might have noticed that many of the oldest age dates come from a mineral called zircon.

That’s because zircon is super tough – it resists weathering. Each radioactive isotope works best for particular applications.

With absolute age dating, you get a real age in actual years.