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The Precambrian Era
Your Name: Kahli Veys
Concepts Addressed: Precambrian era, geologic time scale, evolution
Lab Goals: Students will become familiar with the Precambrian Era in relation to what time
period(s) it spans and what occurred geologically and biologically during that time.
Lab Objectives:
Students will:
 Describe the Precambrian era
 Explain geologic time
 Explore how early life first began
 Work together in a team to create a game
 Use art to deepen knowledge of the Precambrian era
 Write out the rules of a game
Benchmark(s) Addressed:
2.4D.1 Use tools to construct a simple designed structure out of common objects and
materials.
2.4D.2 Work with a team to complete a designed structure that can be shared with others.
4.2E.1 Compare and contrast the changes in the surface of Earth that are due to slow and
rapid processes.
5.2L.1 Explain the interdependence of plants, animals, and environment, and how adaptation
influences survival.
Materials and Costs:
List the equipment and non-consumable material and estimated cost of each
Scissors (12-pack) ..................................................................................................$7.49
Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost: ................................................................$7.49
List the consumable supplies and estimated cost for presenting to a class of 30 students
Colored pencils (six 12-packs).............................................................................$13.74
Crayons (one 96-piece pack) .................................................................................$7.20
Markers ..................................................................................................................$4.79
Construction Paper .................................................................................................$1.49
Heavy weight construction paper or cardboard .....................................................$4.17
Clay (optional—for molding volcanoes, etc.) .......................................................$6.99
Glue sticks (12-pack) .............................................................................................$3.77
Index cards .............................................................................................................$1.07
Estimated total, one-time, start-up cost: ..............................................................$43.27
Time:

Preparation time: 30 mins. to purchase the supplies


Instruction time: 2 hours (1 hour 15 minutes or instruction and making the games, 45
minutes for each group to play at least a few other groups’ games.)
Clean-up time: 15 minutes to clean up supplies
Background:
The Precambrian is Earth’s first period of time. The earth took form about 4.5 billion years ago. For the
first 4 billion years of that time, the Earth was growing and changing. The only living things during this
time were one-celled organisms. The Precambrian era is an informal name for the supereon
comprising the eons of the geologic timescale that came before the current Phanerozoic eon. It
spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma (million years ago) to the evolution of
abundant macroscopic hard-shelled animals, which marked the beginning of the Cambrian, the
first period of the first era of the Phanerozoic eon, some 542 Ma. It is named after the Roman
name for Wales - Cambria - where rocks from this age were first studied.
To speak of "the Precambrian" as a single unified time period is misleading, for it makes up
roughly seven-eighths of the Earth's history. During the Precambrian, the most important events
in biological history took place. Consider that the Earth formed, life arose, the first tectonic
plates arose and began to move, eukaryotic cells evolved, the atmosphere became enriched in
oxygen -- and just before the end of the Precambrian, complex multicellular organisms,
including the first animals, evolved.
The Hadean Time actually came first, but it is not a
geologic time period. It was the time when the earth was
molten and had not yet formed a crust. It is not a geologic
time because there were no rocks yet.
After the Hadean time period came the Archaean and
it was in this period that life first appeared on Earth.
Our oldest fossils date to roughly 3.5 billion years ago,
and consist of bacteria microfossils. In fact, all life
during the more than one billion years of the
Archaean was bacterial. Stromatolites,
colonies of photosynthetic bacteria, have been
found as fossils in Early Archaean rocks of
South Africa and Western Australia.
Stromatolites increased in abundance
throughout the Archaean, but began to decline
during the Proterozoic. They are not common
today.
The last time period within the Precambrian
era is the Proterozoic period. The proterozoic
can be broken down into three, even smaller
time periods within it. Many of the most
exciting events in the history of the Earth and of life occurred during the Proterozoic -- stable
continents first appeared and began to accrete, a long process taking about a billion years. Also
coming from this time are the first abundant fossils of living organisms, mostly bacteria, by
about 1.8 billion years ago. The first glaciations also occurred in this time period.
With the beginning of the Middle Proterozoic comes the first evidence of oxygen build-up in the
atmosphere. This global catastrophe spelled doom for many bacterial groups, but made possible
the explosion of eukaryotic forms. These include multicellular algae, and toward the end of the
Proterozoic, the first animals.
Precambrian Board Game!
Materials:
 Crayons
 Markers
 Colored Pencils
 Glue Sticks
 Colored paper
 Scissors
 Clay
 Index cards
 Heavy weight construction paper/cardboard (for game boards)
Procedure:
 Students will get into groups of 3 and create a board game using the materials provided—
the theme of the game is a journey through the Precambrian Era (almost like Candy
Land), with the final stop the end of the Precambrian Era, which was the evolution of
hard-shelled species (trilobites, etc.)
 Using crayons, colored pencils, markers, and clay, decorate your game board (large
pieces of construction paper or cardboard will serve as the game board)
 Make “spaces” on the board for players’ pieces to land on out of cut-out paper or
crayons/markers
 Make sure to include each of the following:
o Hadean, Archaean, Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, and Neoproterozoic
o Refer to the powerpoint for further information on each of these eras within the
Precambrian era, to better help design your board game
 Create the rules for your game and write them on a note card—making sure the game is
for 3+ players
 Once all groups have completed their games, the students will rotate around the room in
their groups, playing each other’s games.
Assessment:
 Student’s gameboards will be assessed for content and clarity.
 Quiz:
1. List the following eras within the Precambrian era in order of earliest to most recent:
Archaean, Hadean, Proterozoic
Answer: Hadean, Archaean, Proterozioc
2. In which time period within the Precambrian era did the first glaciation occur,
Hadean, Archaean, or Proterozoic?
Answer: Proterozoic
3. Which time period within the Precambrian era was the hottest, Hadean, Archaean, or
Proterozoic?
Answer: Hadean