The Precambrian Era! By Kahli Veys

When we say “Precambrian,” what time period are we talking about? The Precambrian era spans from the formation of Earth, 4.5 billion years ago, to the evolution of abundant macroscopic hard-shelled animals, about 500 million years ago.

The Precambrian Era actually spans several eras

What Happened During the Precambrian Era? Earth formed Life arose First tectonic plates arose and began to move Eukaryotic cells evolved Atmosphere became enriched in oxygen And, just before the end of the Precambrian, complex multicellular organisms, including the first animals, evolved.

If we represent Earth’s history on a 24 hour clock… = Precambrian era Precambrian Earth Video: Click Here!!

The Precambrian Era Broken Down Hadean: 4.6 billion years ago to roughly 3.8 billion years ago Archaean: 3.8 - 2.5 billion years ago Started off very hot Lots of volcanic activity—so much geologic activity that there were only protocontinents (not large continents that we have today) The Archean atmosphere is thought to have lacked free oxygen. Temperatures estimated to be near modern levels liquid water present Life: Stromatalites and bacterial fossils have been found from this era Proterozoic: 2.5 billion - 542 million years ago An eon that spans three eras: Paleoproterozoic, Mesoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic Period before the first abundant complex life on Earth Featured massive, rapid continental accretion Large increase in atmospheric oxygen Life: herbivorous eukaryotes (algae) First glaciation

Our Activity: Precambrian Board Game! Get in groups of 2-3 Collect a piece of large (heavy-weight) construction paper, a notecard, a few pieces of colored paper, colored pencils, clay, a glue stick, scissors, markers, and crayons Work with your group to come up with a simple board game concept (think Candyland!) Your game will span the length of the Precambrian era Use the art supplies to create your board game Write out the rules to your game on the notecard Make sure to make the game playable by 2+ players Be sure to include the time periods within the precambrian era, using the information found on the previous page of this slideshow! When everyone is done, we will play each other’s games.

Picture Sources by Slide: 1. http://www.karencarr.com/auto_image/auto_image_mid/Field_Museum_pre_cambrian_mural.jpg 2. http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/22/precambrian_era.jpg http://www.answersingenesis.org/assets/images/articles/ee/v2/geological-time-scale.jpg 3. http://www.ideofact.com/archives/trilobite.jpg 4. http://www.sharkbay.wa.gov.au/tourism/what_to_see_and_do/images/stromatolites_lge.jpg http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/gould/gifs/burg.jpg 5. http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/link/images/hist_img_01_prec.jpg http://www.geology.wisc.edu/homepages/g100s2/public_html/Geologic_Time/Time_Clock.gif 6. http://www.wipsppc.com/symposium_poster.gif http://www.mainsgate.com/spacebio/modules/lu_resource/ArcheanLandscape.jpeg http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/Precambrian.html 7. http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/earth/images/earth_ancient_volcano_600.jpg 8. http://joshreads.com/?p=1204 Information Sources: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/precambrian.html http://www.palaeos.com/Timescale/Precambrian.htm