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How Old Are These Fossils? This activity was developed in the Foundation Integrated Studies
Program (FISP) at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California
with my design team partner Debbi Hersh. Originally designed for
grades 9-10, the following version is an adaptation for grades
3-6. The activity engages students in the Carbon 14 dating process
used by scientists to date ancient artifacts. While the complete
application of this process as used by scientists is beyond the
level of elementary math and science students, the essential concepts
of half life and geometric sequences are made accessible to elementary
students in a simplified, hands on activity that allows students
to discover and experience the basic principles. The activity
is adaptable to various grade levels by adjusting the amount of
structure supplied to students. The teacher notes below provide
support on how to do this. Some of the problems will be very difficult
for the majority of elementary level students. These are included
for individual students who want a challenge, or in cases where
you and the class are especially inspired and you would like to
demonstrate, or have a student give a presentation. Depending
on the support and time given to warm-up problems the activity
can take from 1-3 days. Context for teaching The interdisciplinary aspect of this activity is best taken advantage of by using it when you are studying a related theme in science. It does not have to be an exact fit to provide meaning. Most students are curious about how scientists determine the age of ancient artifacts, and the topic is often charged with controversy. Objectives
The Activity Part 1: A Warm-up Special Problem--The Henderson's Gummybears In general, allow students to work with the problem on their own or in groups before you give structure or hints. Provide hints to select groups or individuals as needed to allow each individual student to be challenged and/or supported to a degree appropriate for them. Hints: -make a chart that demonstrates how many bears she has left each day -use a model to act it out; to visualize. Refer to your problem solving resources (flow chart) As students pursue various strategies of their own design, gently lead each student or group to make a table as shown below. Students will need to be equipped with this table when they do the next activity, "How Old Are These Fossils?"
Students may ask what to do when there is only 1 gummybear. You can agree that when that happens, she gives the whole bear away. You might consider asking students what would happen if bears could be cut in half. Would she ever run out? (Only if she did it forever; the limit as the number of days approaches infinity equals 0). Another version of this problem would be to have students stand a specified distance from the wall and to walk have the distance to the wall on your commands. This could be done on another day to provide added support of the essential concept that needs to be established: Halving a quantity in successive stages. Part 2: Discussion: Carbon 14 and the dating of fossils Before doing "How Old Are These Fossils?" the concept of Carbon 14 dating needs to be introduced to the students, either in a science class or as a brief discussion during math. In the gummybear problem, half the quantity was removed each day. This could have been arranged where half the quantity was removed each week, each year, or each decade. The term half life is referred to the amount of time it takes for a quantity to diminish by half. The half life of gummybears was 1 day. Many other substances in nature decay or evaporate naturally with the same halving process as the gummybears. One of these substances is Carbon 14, a compound present in all living things. The half life of Carbon 14 is 5730 years. Expressed simply, if a scientist knows how much Carbon 14 is in an animal when it is alive, and can measure how much is in its fossil, then based on the half life of Carbon 14 the amount of time that has passed since its death can be determined. This process of dating will be simulated with popcorn by students in class. Part 3: Classroom Simulation: How Old Are These Fossils? Divide the students into about 10-12 groups of 2 and/or 3. Designate half of the groups as "scientists" and the other half as "fossils." The fossils are equipped with a cup of 128 pieces of popcorn. For the first 5-10 minutes of the activity the scientists must be separated from the fossils; either by leaving the classroom or going behind a partition. On your cue, each fossil will remove half of the corn in the cup each minute. Start each fossil at a different time over a 6 minute period with hand signals so that the scientists don't catch on, then stop. Allow the scientists then to circulate among the fossils and gather data and determine how many minutes each one was "decaying." If time allows, the rolls can be reversed, and the process repeated. To determine the age of each fossil group students will need to refer to the table created in the gummybear problem. Don't volunteer this strategy. Give the students the opportunity to make this connection on their own. Part 4: The Follow-up Problems These problems increase in difficulty. Without substantial support
from you, they would be too difficult for most students to figure
out on their own. Even with support they are beyond the abilities
of most students in the lower grades. Problems 2-4 require two steps: 2) Ans: 40 gm
Student Handouts Gummybear warm-up: Problem of the Day The Hendersons have a very big family. At the beginning of summer vacation, Ms. Henderson decided to give the children a package of 128 gummy bear candies. She didn't want to give them away all on one day, so on the first day she gave them half of the bears. On the next day she gave them half of what she had left that day. She continued giving them half of what she had each day until they were all gone. Answer the questions below and show all your work 1) If Ms. Henderson started giving the bears to the kids on Sunday, how many bears would she have on Thursday? Explain in words what helped you find the answer:
2) How many days will pass until all of the bears are gone?
How Old Is That Fossil Data Sheet:
NAME:_______________ PARTNER:_____________ How Old Are These Fossils? Each group started with 128 kernels of corn. The corn represents Carbon 14. In today's experiment, each minute they throw away half of their corn, just like the way Ms. Henderson was giving away gummybears. Visit three fossil groups, count the amount of corn left in their cup and determine how many minutes they were throwing way corn. I AM A (CIRCLE ONE) Paleontologist DATA
PROBLEMS: 1) The half-life of Carbon 14 is 5730 years. This means that it takes 5730 years for half of the Carbon 14 to go away. Pretend the corn in today's experiment was Carbon 14. Calculate how many years old each of the fossils in today's experiment would be.
A sample of wood contains 80 gm of Carbon 14.
3) How much would be left after 11,460 years?
4) How much would be left after 22,920 years?
5) An animal carcass had 24 grams of Carbon 14 when it was live and 3 grams present when its fossilized remains were discovered. How old is the fossil? 6) How old would the same fossil be if there was .375 gm of Carbon 14 present when it was discovered?
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