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Fossil
Cutouts:
Introduction:
The
discovery
of
radioactivity
in
the
1800s
allowed
scientists
to
develop
new
methods
of
determining
absolute
age
of
rocks.
Since
its
not
safe
for
us
to
handle
radioactive
isotopes,
we
will
use
pennies
to
simulate
radioactive
decay.
The
box
in
this
lab
represents
an
imaginary
rock.
Suppose
that
100
heads-up
pennies
in
your
box
represent
atoms
of
Carbon-14.
When
Carbon-14
decays,
it
turns
into
Nitrogen
(Nitrogen-14),
which
is
stable
(non-radioactive).
By
shaking
the
box
for
10
seconds,
you
will
see
that
approximately
half
of
the
Carbon-14
atoms
have
decayed
into
Nitrogen
(pennies
that
are
tails-up).
Thus,
10
seconds
is
the
half-life
of
our
Carbon-14
(Note:
in
reality,
10
seconds
is
not
the
real
half-life
of
Carbon-14,
but
we
use
this
amount
of
time
in
place
of
a
much
longer
time).
Materials:
Box
with
lid,
100
pennies
in
a
zip-loc
bag.
Process:
1)
Place
100
pennies
heads-up
in
the
box.
2)
Close
the
box
and
shake
it
vigorously
for
15
seconds
3)
Remove
and
count
stable
Nitrogen
atoms,
then
place
them
in
the
zip-lock
bag.
4)
Record
in
Table
1
the
TOTAL
number
of
Nitrogen
decayed
so
far
under
the
heading
Number
of
stable
Nitrogen.
5)
Record
in
Table
1
the
number
of
Carbon-14
remaining
in
the
box
under
the
heading
Number
of
Radioactive
Carbon-14.
6)
After
placing
the
Nitrogen
atoms
in
the
bag,
close
the
bag
and
put
the
Nitrogen
bag
in
the
box.
7)
Repeat
steps
2-6
three
more
times,
recording
the
results
each
time.
At
this
point,
you
will
have
simulated
4
half-lives.
Data:
Number of Half-Lives
0
1
2
3
4
Prepare
a
graph
using
the
box
above
by
plotting
the
number
of
half-lives
on
the
x-axis
and
the
number
of
radioactive
Carbon-14s
on
the
y-axis.
Reflection
Questions:
With
regularity,
radioactive
elements
decay
to
stable
non-radioactive
elements
at
a
steady
rate.
Take
Carbon-14
for
example.
Half
the
Carbon-14
will
decay
to
stable
Nitrogen
every
5760
years.
Other
radioactive
isotopes
take
longer,
such
as
Uranium-238.
Over
the
course
of
its
half-life,
4.5
billion
years,
half
of
its
atoms
will
decay
to
non-radioactive
Lead-206.
1. Describe the appearance of your graph. What kind of equation would you expect for the line?
2. If you had 600 atoms of Carbon-14, how many atoms would decay to stable Nitrogen in 3 halflives?
3. If 175 Carbon-14 remained from a sample of 2800, how many half-lives would have passed?
4. If you have a rock sample that has 1/8 of its original Carbon-14, how many half-lives have
passed? Based on Carbon-14s actual half-life of 5760 years, how old is this rock?
5. Carbon-14 can only be used to age rocks up to 50,000 years old. Other radioactive elements that
have a much older half-life are used to date older rocks and fossils. Why do scientists care about
the ages of rocks and fossils? How could knowing the age of fossils provide support for the idea
of diversification of species?
6. Think back to the M&M Survival activity. One of the factors in M&M survival was
environmental (or natural) selection. How could studying the fossil record help us see the
process of natural selection over a long period of time?
7. Weve talked about how we gain evidence for natural selection by looking at the fossil record.
How do you think natural selection can help explain our observations of the fossil record?
8. Scientists are tasked with classifying new species and redefining classifications of species
already identified. How can studying the fossil record assist scientists in this process?
[See
separate
document
for
the
graphic
organizer
that
students
will
use
to
create
their
own
test
questions.]