Student Activities
- Grade Level:
- High School: Ninth Grade through Twelfth Grade
- Subject:
- Science,Social Studies
- State Standards:
- HS ESS1 6: Apply scientific reasoning and evidence from ancient Earth materials, meteorites, and other planetary surfaces to construct an account of Earth’s formation and early history.
Students will identify key information about the history and use of radiocarbon dating.
This notetaking activity will use the National Parks and the History of Science: Radiocarbon Dating video.
Radiocarbon dating – sometimes called carbon-14 dating – is the most important method for determining the ages of ancient organic materials as old as about 60,000 years. The method is so valuable for geology, paleontology, archeology and many other scientific fields that its developer was awarded a Nobel Prize in 1960. The first time radiocarbon dating was used to answer a scientific question about human history was the early 1960s at what is now Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument in Nevada.
Materials
Radiocarbon Dating Notetaking Worksheet
Last updated: October 31, 2024