Which dating method?
In this activity, students learn to recognise some of the different relative and absolute dating methods that are referred to throughout the Science Learning Hub website.
Sediment core tour
Dr Marcus Vandergoes, of GNS Science, takes you on a tour of a sediment core from glacial and interglacial deposits near the Southern Alps. He explains the different environments that organic and inorganic layers represent and which layers are suitable for different dating methods. A layer of volcanic ash, dated to 27,000 years ago, provides a tie-in for relative dating.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
read and comprehend a variety of science texts
recognise and distinguish between relative and absolute dating methods
realise that dating is important in several fields of science
use the Science Learning Hub as a research tool.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
discussion questions
student worksheets.
Nature of science
When there is a wide range of measurement methods available, scientists need to choose the best one to suit their material and situation.
Related content
Read more about relative and absolute dating methods.
Activity ideas
Help your students understand more about dating methods with these other activities:
Using absolute dating methods uses the interactive Absolute dating methods and Absolute dating rock layers – quiz. Students learn about and then choose the best absolute dating method for each layer of rock in a cliff, based on material present in each rock.
Rock layers and relative dating – observe rocks layers located near Whanganui, watch an animation about how they were formed and use relative dating to work out the order in which the rocks were created in the interactive Relative rock layers.
Build a timescale – develop a timescale for a person’s life. The techniques of relative and absolute dating are similar to those used in the construction of a geological timescale.
