Before Present

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/before-present

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the standard epoch?January 1, 1950
2. What is the abbreviation usage?BP (Before Present) or YBP (Years Before Present)
3. What does "Before Present" mean in science?"Before Present" (BP) is a way scientists count how many years before the year 1950 something happened. It keeps dates the same no matter when we look at them.
4. Why do scientists use the year 1950 as the present?Scientists chose 1950 because that was when radiocarbon dating started. Using the same year for everyone makes all the dates match up.

Epoch: A fixed point in time designated as a reference for a dating system or historical period.
Radiocarbon Dating (C-14 Dating): A method of determining the age of organic materials by measuring the decay rate of carbon-14.
Isotopic Ratio: The relative amounts of different isotopes of an element present in a sample, crucial for dating techniques.
Anthropogenic Influence: Impacts or changes caused by human activities, such as nuclear testing affecting atmospheric carbon-14 levels.