The Cosmic Calendar

The Cosmic Calendar Quiz

Answer the 7 questions in this Quiz : First complete it individually, then discuss your responses with other group members – you can then change your response if you like!

Q1. What is the approximate age of the Universe?

A.   10 million years old
B.   15 million years old
C.   15 billion years old
D.    Older than 20 billion years
E.     None of the above

Q2. The first humans appeared on Earth approximately

A.    50 000 years ago
B.    200 000 years ago
C.    1 million years ago
D.    2 million years ago
E.     None of the above

Q3. Where did the Universe come from?

A.   it has always existed
B.   it was created
C.   a huge explosion of space, time, matter and energy
D.   it was born from the debris left over after the destruction
of a previous universe
E.   None of the above

Q4. How do we know how old the Sun is?

A.   from Cosmic Microwave Background radiation discovered by
scientists in the 1960s
B.   from archeological evidence
C.   from calculations using classical physics
D.   by using radioactive dating of objects such as meteorites
E.   we have no way of knowing

Group Activity!

Imagine that the whole history of the Universe has been compressed into one calendar year with the Big Bang corresponding to the first second on New Year’s Day, and the present time to the last second on December 31st (midnight).

Jan 1 → Dec 31

Big Bang Today

Scientists estimate the age of the Universe to be 13.7 billion years old – but for this activity, take it to be 15 billion years old (because it makes the maths easier!). If we divide this number by 12 months, each month of our Cosmic Calendar will represent approximately 1.25 billion years.

Using this time scale – each month represents 1.25 billion years . . .

Brainstorm when some important events would have taken place between the Big Bang and Today

Cut and Paste the 12-month Calendar onto poster paper to create one long TIME LINE

To download Events Cards and 12-month Calendar click on the link

Events Cards and 12-month Calendar

Cut out the given 10 Events from the handout and decide on their probable order on the TIME LINE
- Place each Event under the month you predicted the Event occurred and say why you think it should go there
- Predict the day of the month that you think the Event occurred

Now, check with the dates that scientists have worked out for these events. How did your predictions compare?

Try to find out how scientists arrive at such predictions

Dates of special note:

— Humans arrived on the scene 7 min before Midnight on New Year’s Eve Dec 31!

— Dinosaurs ruled from Dec 25 – Dec 30 for almost 200 million years

December Task

Try to find out when the some of the following events occurred and then draw up your own calendar on poster paper for the month of December – make the box for December 31st extra large! (something like the calendar below)

Place these events on the appropriate days/hours/minutes/seconds of December – e.g. stone tools made their appearance on December 31st at 23:00 hours!

The appearance of Proconsul and Ramapithecus – ancestors of apes and humans
The first human beings appear
Dinosaurs become extinct
System of canals formed on Mars
First trees appear
The first worms
Indian arithmetic and the invention of Zero and Decimals
End of the last ice age
The first flowers appear
Use of Hubble telescope
First primates appear
Development of oxygen atmosphere on Earth
The first amphibians appear
Birth of Sir Isaac Newton
The settling of Europeans into North America
Discovery of agriculture
First dinosaurs appear
First cities of Neolithic Age
Invention of computers
The time of the astronomer Aristarchus
Euclidean geometry
Plankton first appears in oceans
The Roman empire
The Jurassic period
Use of fire by Peking man
First insects appear
Paintings on cave walls in Europe
The Bronze Age
Extensive use of Stone tools
Mayan civilization

To download the Worksheet for the December Task click on the link below

Cosmic Calendar_DECEMBER Task

Questions to ponder and investigate . . .

How old is the sun compared to other stars?
What might we look like today if hominids on Earth had evolved a million years earlier?
Has the Universe always been there?
Why were calendars first used?
Why do we use calendars today?
What other calendars exist(ed)? How were they drawn up?
How have calendars changed over time?
Why would some people disagree with the time-scale of the Cosmic Calendar content?
Why do we remember the past and not the future?

Why is there a Universe?

Concluding thoughts:

The Cosmic Calendar was inspired by the late astronomer, Carl Sagan (1934-1996). Sagan was the first person to explain the history of the universe in one year – as a “Cosmic Calendar” – in his television series, Cosmos, and in his Pulitzer-prize winning book ‘The Dragons of Eden’. Conduct internet searches to find out more about his ‘Cosmic Calendar’ and look for excerpts from the TV series on U-Tube.