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Earth’s history, or Geologic Time, is split into four eras. The Precambrian era, the Paleozoic era, the Mesozoic era and the Cenozoic era are the four eras that help geologists understand which time frame a major event or mass extinction happened.
The Cenozoic era is the present day era, the one we are currently living in. It began 66 million years ago when the Mesozoic era ended and hasn’t ended yet. It is split into two periods, the Tertiary period and the Quaternary period.
The Tertiary period began when the era started and ended 1.8 million years ago. The first monkeys and apes began to appear around the Tertiary period, and grass began to evolve. Flowering shrubs became the most common plants. The Quaternary period started 1.8 million years ago and has not ended. We are currently living in it now. Mammals, insects and flowering plants dominated the land. Humans began to appear. Later on in the period, about 20,000 years ago, the larger mammals like mammoths went extinct.
The Tertiary period began when the era started and ended 1.8 million years ago. The first monkeys and apes began to appear around the Tertiary period, and grass began to evolve. Flowering shrubs became the most common plants. The Quaternary period started 1.8 million years ago and has not ended. We are currently living in it now. Mammals, insects and flowering plants dominated the land. Humans began to appear. Later on in the period, about 20,000 years ago, the larger mammals like mammoths went extinct.
In the Tertiary period, the climate was mostly warm. Plants and animals thrived. Plants had a chance to grow now that the dinosaurs were extinct. Grasses evolved and became food for the ancestors of today’s grass-eating mammals. During the Quaternary period, animals had a harder time. The climate shifted around a lot. It began warm, and then the climate bega to cool. Continental glaciers spread over North America and Europe. The ice ages began. Animals dominated the parts of North America that had no ice. About 20,000 years ago, the climate warmed up again, and the ice melted everywhere but Greenland and Antarctica.
During the Cenozoic era, the oceans widened, causing sea animals to thrive. The Himalayas, the Swiss Alps and the Rockies are all mountains ranges that formed during the Cenozoic era. Mammoths, sabre-tooth cats, giant deer and giant land sloths all went extinct. Flowering plants and grass became common.
S&EP: SP2
While we studied the eras and geologic time, I found that a timeline helped me a lot. There was one in the textbook we were using and showed specific dates, organisms and names, both scientific and not. It was helpful to see it all mapped out and to be able to understand something that was portrayed in a way that was difficult to see on different sources. I also liked the timeline because it gave me a lot of information on each of the geologic eras.
XCC: Cause and Effect
There were a lot of cause and effect relationships in Geologic time. For instance, the climate cooled off in the Cenozoic era, causing the effect of an ice age across the world. Dinosaurs went extinct during the Mesozoic era, causing he effect of proliferating plant growth in the Cenozoic era. The cause and effect we can observe from the past can help us make predictions of what will happen in the present/future. We can study the climate and predict if ice ages or heat waves will be coming. We can predict what will happen in black rhinos go extinct, and then we can do something about it. We can stop extinction, and we can stop global warming. Science and cause and effect can help us prepare for what could be coming in the future.
During the Cenozoic era, the oceans widened, causing sea animals to thrive. The Himalayas, the Swiss Alps and the Rockies are all mountains ranges that formed during the Cenozoic era. Mammoths, sabre-tooth cats, giant deer and giant land sloths all went extinct. Flowering plants and grass became common.
S&EP: SP2
While we studied the eras and geologic time, I found that a timeline helped me a lot. There was one in the textbook we were using and showed specific dates, organisms and names, both scientific and not. It was helpful to see it all mapped out and to be able to understand something that was portrayed in a way that was difficult to see on different sources. I also liked the timeline because it gave me a lot of information on each of the geologic eras.
XCC: Cause and Effect
There were a lot of cause and effect relationships in Geologic time. For instance, the climate cooled off in the Cenozoic era, causing the effect of an ice age across the world. Dinosaurs went extinct during the Mesozoic era, causing he effect of proliferating plant growth in the Cenozoic era. The cause and effect we can observe from the past can help us make predictions of what will happen in the present/future. We can study the climate and predict if ice ages or heat waves will be coming. We can predict what will happen in black rhinos go extinct, and then we can do something about it. We can stop extinction, and we can stop global warming. Science and cause and effect can help us prepare for what could be coming in the future.
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