Advanced Dating & Stratigraphy
📋 What it is
Radiometric dating uses radioactive decay to give fossils actual ages; rock layers (strata) give order.
🗣️ Coach says
There are two ways to date fossils. RELATIVE dating uses rock layers (strata) to say which is older. ABSOLUTE dating measures radioactive elements that decay at a steady, known rate — like a natural clock — to give an actual age in years. Combining both pins fossils in real time.
🧠 Memory hook
Relative dating = layer order (older/younger). Absolute (radiometric) = a decay "clock" → age in years.
😂 Giggle
What do you get when a dinosaur scores a touchdown?
A dino-score!
😲 Whoa!
Radiocarbon dating works like a stopwatch: a radioactive form of carbon decays at a fixed rate, so measuring how much is left tells you how long ago something lived.
✅ Quick check: What’s the difference between relative and absolute dating?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Relative dating gives ORDER (which is older, from layers); absolute dating gives an actual AGE in years (from radioactive decay).
Relative = order; absolute = numeric age.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Stack papers as "layers"; the bottom is oldest (relative). A steady drip could time it (absolute).