Stratigraphy Relative Dating Lab Activity

What others say

"I'm always looking for ways to make relative dating more engaging to my students, and this was a great activity!"

Angela R.

"This was a really great visual and hands-on experience for my students! It took a little time to prepare, but it was worth it! "

Amanda C.

Description

Teaching relative dating, law of superposition, and stratigraphy? Have students simulate rock core methods with play doh! In this lab you will prepare play doh strata within cupcake liners. Students will use a straw to extract 5 cores and draw inferences about what the rock layers look like. They will create a diagram and answer questions about relative dating, index fossils, and stratigraphy.

Materials Needed:

5 colors of play doh, cupcake liners, straw, chopsticks or glass stir rods,

Included in your purchase:

Teacher prep directions
Student lab worksheet
Answer key
Powerpoint to accompany the lab

This student lab worksheet is not editable.

You might also be interested in:

Relative and absolute dating lesson

Ice core lab

Half life lab

Be sure to follow my TpT store by clicking on the "follow me" button next to my seller picture to receive notifications of new products and upcoming sales.

Don't forget to leave feedback to earn TpT credits that can be used for future purchases!

Want free tips and resources sent to your inbox once a week? Subscribe to my newsletter! You can also...

♻️ Check out my blog

♻️ Follow me on facebook

♻️ Follow me on instagram

♻️ Follow me on pinterest

Report this resource to TPT

Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.

Stratigraphy Relative Dating Lab Activity

Name: Stratigraphy Relative Dating Lab Activity
Brand: Science Lessons That Rock
SKU: 9417314
Price: 4.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.79 (29 reviews)

Science Lessons That Rock

10.5k Followers

$4.00

Highlights

Grades

9th - 10th

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Science

What others say

"I'm always looking for ways to make relative dating more engaging to my students, and this was a great activity!"

Angela R.

"This was a really great visual and hands-on experience for my students! It took a little time to prepare, but it was worth it! "

Amanda C.

Save even more with bundles

Earth and Space Science Lab activities and Stations Bundle

Do you already have your own earth and space science PowerPoints and lessons created, but looking to supplement with more hands on activities? This bundle of resources is for you! It includes all of the labs and station activities I have created for my earth science curriculum. Click on the individu

Price $101.40Original Price $126.75Save $25.35

Rocks and Minerals Bundle for high school earth science

Included in this bundle are fun resources to be used in your rocks and minerals unit. Click on the previews of each product to check them out before purchasing. Be sure to follow my TpT store by clicking on the "follow me" button next to my seller picture to receive notifications of new products and

Price $81.00Original Price $101.25Save $20.25

Relative and Absolute Dating Bundle

These resources will help your students learn about relative and absolute dating. Make this topic fun and hands on with engaging lab activities! Check out the preview of each product. An editable quiz is also included as a bonus file. Be sure to follow my TpT store by clicking on the "follow me" but

Price $15.20Original Price $19.00Save $3.80

Earth and Space Science Year Long Curriculum Bundle

This is a year-long bundle that will include everything you need to teach earth and space science! These resources have all been used in my own classroom and I know they will engage your students and save you hours and hours of time. There are 9 units included in this download:Intro to earth and sp

Price $360.00Original Price $659.25Save $299.25

176

Description

Materials Needed:

5 colors of play doh, cupcake liners, straw, chopsticks or glass stir rods,

Included in your purchase:

Teacher prep directions
Student lab worksheet
Answer key
Powerpoint to accompany the lab

This student lab worksheet is not editable.

You might also be interested in:

Relative and absolute dating lesson

Ice core lab

Half life lab

Be sure to follow my TpT store by clicking on the "follow me" button next to my seller picture to receive notifications of new products and upcoming sales.

Don't forget to leave feedback to earn TpT credits that can be used for future purchases!

Want free tips and resources sent to your inbox once a week? Subscribe to my newsletter! You can also...

♻️ Check out my blog

♻️ Follow me on facebook

♻️ Follow me on instagram

♻️ Follow me on pinterest

Report this resource to TPT

Reported resources will be reviewed by our team. Report this resource to let us know if this resource violates TPT's content guidelines.

4.8

Rated 4.79 out of 5, based on 29 reviews

29
ratings

Mostly used with 8th grade

Reviews

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

All verified TPT purchases

Great activity

Rated 5 out of 5

May 19, 2026

Students enjoyed this lab and was a great hands on activity.

Kailyn T.

307 reviews • New York

Grades taught: PreK, PreK, K, K, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd

Student populations: Mild to severe disabilities

Great Resource

Rated 5 out of 5

May 4, 2026

I'm always looking for ways to make relative dating more engaging to my students, and this was a great activity!

Shimmer in Science

(TPT Seller)

467 reviews • Wyoming

Grades taught: 6th, 7th, 8th

Student populations: Learning difficulties

Great Resource

Rated 5 out of 5

May 3, 2026

Met expectations

Great value

This was a really great visual and hands-on experience for my students! It took a little time to prepare, but it was worth it!

Amanda C.

175 reviews • North Carolina

Grades taught: 7th

This lab activity is SO fun!!

Rated 5 out of 5

April 5, 2026

Met expectations

Great value

Students LOVED this activity! Instructions for set-up were helpful and easy to follow. Steps are clearly explained and students were engaged throughout.

Victoria W.

317 reviews • California

Grades taught: 8th

Student populations: Emerging bilinguals, Learning difficulties

Fun Hands-On Learning

Rated 5 out of 5

March 9, 2026

My students loved getting to try their hand at takng core samples and predicitng what the rock strata looked like inside!

Eileen N.

135 reviews • Minnesota

Grades taught: PreK, K, 1st, 2nd, 6th

Wish there was more

Rated 3 out of 5

November 14, 2025

It was a good resource, but I wish that there was more included for what I paid for it.

Aaron S.

160 reviews • Tennessee

Grades taught: 6th

They locked in!

Rated 5 out of 5

September 3, 2025

Met expectations

Great value

I was trying to get a way for kids to practice what they were looking at in pictures and this was it. The steps were simple enough for kids to follow and engaging enough for them to have some fun. It was a lot of prep work for me but I just made large sheets of playdough, layered them in a sheet pan, and finally just sliced with knife. The hardest part was getting the kids to not smash the layers

Samantha R.

47 reviews • Iowa

Grades taught: 8th

Rated 5 out of 5

July 20, 2025

Thank you so much! This was a great resource for my 8th-grade students. They loved it!

kelly C.

277 reviews

Grades taught: 8th