Initial Publication Date: February 23, 2012

Life Time Line

Sarah Gerken, Biological Sciences, Liberal Studies, University of Alaska, Anchorage

Description

The visualization shows an overview of the origin of major steps in the evolution of living organisms, with the relative amount of time since the origin of the planet (it is not exact).

Context

How this visualization is used in class:

This is a version of a slide that I use in both my oceanography class and in my life on earth class, to try to get across major changes in organism evolution. Sometimes the teaching activity is to generate the timeline with the class, sometimes I use it more passively as in this case and show it while discussing the major steps.

Advice on using this visualization in the classroom:

The visualization works very well for me; it is how I conceptualize this, but it doesn't seem to work all that well for the students, given their persistent misconceptions.

Visualization and Supporting Materials

Life timeline slide (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 50kB Feb17 12)