How Old is Stuff?

Readings

James Hutton http://www.eoearth.org/article/Hutton,_James

Uniformitarianism http://www.eoearth.org/article/Uniformitarianism

Charles Lyell http://www.eoearth.org/article/Lyell,_Charles

Law of Superposition http://imnh.isu.edu/exhibits/online/geo_time/geo_principles.htm#super

Age of the Earth http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html

How Do We Know The Age of the Earth http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/gtime/ageofearth.html#age

Radiometric Dating http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens211/radiometric_dating.htm

How Old is the Universe http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_age.html

WMAP http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Video

Radioactive Dating http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1920gi3swe4

Cool Interactive Website

Clocks in Rocks http://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualDating/files/1.0_ClocksInRocks.html

Powerpoint Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/how-old-is-stuff

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student will be able to

- discuss the contributions of Hutton and Lyell to the development of the field of geology

- define uniformitarianism

- discuss why early geologists concluded that the Earth had to be much older than 6000 years

- discuss how scientists use radioactive dating to determine age

- briefly discuss how scientists determined the age of the Universe