Geologic Time and Paleontology Game

Download and print a geologic timescale and a set of ancient animal cards and use the clues to put the ancient life in the time period where it belongs.

Ancient Life Matching Game

You spent all day yesterday using a brand-new time machine to study prehistoric organisms which are plants, animals, or single-celled life forms that are now extinct. You went to bed dreaming of these creatures when you woke up to some strange noises. Oh no! You left your time machine on and now your room is full of prehistoric organisms! How are you going to figure out what time period each of these creatures belong in so that you can get them home safely? Luckily, you have your geologic time scale ready! Read about each prehistoric creature and use clues in your geologic time scale to match the creature to its home time period.

Materials Checklist

• Printed Paleo Matching Cards
• Paleo Matching TimeScale
• Scissors

Instructions

Download and print out the Paleo Matching Cards and Paleo Matching TimeScale. Cut the cards along the dashed line so that you have one card for each paleo animal. Using the clues in the description of each time period on the timescale, see if you can match each animal to the time period in which it lived!

When you finish, come back to this page and take the quiz.