Classroomtools.com: Event Lists for Putting Time In Perspective

Lesson Ideas
Main Events
Putting Time In Perspective

Event Lists

I limit the event list to 5 or 6. Too many and the calendar becomes crowded, minimizing the activity's effect. If you like it and have more events that you want to use, wait a bit, then try it again with an additional set of 5 or 6.

Select events or people that will be highlighted in your class. Doing the warm-up activity with them will give you some idea of what your students know about them going in. Think of it as a small pre-test.

Here are some sample lists.

Set 1: Human Evolution from the Ape-Human split
	Scale	4,500,000	years =	365 days

	Event	# of years ago
	Australopithecus Afarensis	3,500,000
	Homo Ergaster	1,700,000
	Homo Neanderthalis	200,000
	Homo Sapiens	120,000
	student's birthdate	16

Set 2: US History (1st semester)
	Scale	506	years =	365 days

	Event	# of years ago
	Columbus lands on Hispaniola	506
	Jamestown settled	391
	Declaration of Independence	222
	14th amendment ratified	130
	student's birthdate	16

Set 3: World History (1st semester)
	Scale	5,000	years =	365 days

	Event	# of years ago
	Ramses III ascends throne	3,196
	Homer writes the Iliad	2,848
	Christian (Common) Era begins	1,998
	Columbus lands on Hispaniola	506
	student's birthdate	16

Set 4: Cosmic Evolution
	Scale	14,500,000,000	years =	365 days

	Event	# of years ago
	the Big Bang	14,500,000,000
	formation of the Earth	4,500,000,000
	Dinosaurs die off	65,000,000
	ape-human split	4,500,000
	student's birthdate	16

return to the Putting Time In Perspective page