13 - What is Carbon Dating
Title
What is Carbon Dating?Reading Text
Everything that is alive has an element called carbon-14 in it. Plants, animals, and people all have carbon. When a living thing dies, the carbon stops entering its body. Slowly, the carbon starts to change and leave the object. This happens over a very long time. Scientists use 'carbon dating' to study old things. They measure how much carbon is left inside. This helps them find the age of the object. They can learn how old a bone, a piece of wood, or a shell is. It is like a specific clock for history. Carbon dating helps us understand the past.
Activities
Vocabulary
- Text: Having life; not dead.
- Text: A person who studies and knows a lot about science.
- Text: To find the size, amount, or degree of something.
- Text: How old someone or something is.
- Text: A hard part inside the body of an animal or person.
- Label: AliveAnswer: A
- Label: ScientistAnswer: B
- Label: MeasureAnswer: C
- Label: AgeAnswer: D
- Label: BoneAnswer: E
- Before: The flowers in the garden are stillAfter: and beautiful.Answer: alive
- Before: AAfter: works in a laboratory to learn new things.Answer: scientist
- Before: We need toAfter: the room to fit the new sofa.Answer: measure
- Before: Can you guess theAfter: of this old painting?Answer: age
- Before: The dog found a bigAfter: in the park.Answer: bone
- Text: in carbon is things living AllAnswer: All living things have carbon in them.
- Text: measure Scientists carbon the leftAnswer: Scientists measure the carbon left.
- Text: old tells The age us carbon theAnswer: The carbon tells us the old age.
- Text: helps history understand It usAnswer: It helps us understand history.
- Text: study bones They old canAnswer: They can study old bones.
Comprehension
- Text: Only people have carbon in their bodies.Answer: false
- Text: Carbon changes when a living thing dies.Answer: true
- Text: Scientists measure water to find the age of things.Answer: false
- Text: Carbon dating works on old computers.Answer: false
- Text: Carbon dating is like a clock for history.Answer: true
Written Expression
- Text: Why do you think it is important to know about the past?
- Text: If you could find an old object, what would it be?
Examples:
- I think the past is important because we learn from mistakes.
- I would like to find an old coin from a king.
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