The Body Timeline Analogy – a new tool for teaching deep time

The concept of geologic time is fundamental to understanding Earth’s history; however, its immense scale presents a challenge, as it extends far beyond human experience. Educators frequently employ analogies both through pictorial representations and as interactive activities to bridge this cognitive gap. Here we introduce a new method, the Body Timeline Analogy, which uses a human’s height as the Earth’s timeline to quickly and simply envision the enormity of our geologic past. Practically, this technique does not require significant time, space, or materials which makes it especially applicable for informal educational environments. We evaluated this approach in a small science museum with data collected from two groups: adults who participated in the Body Timeline activity (activity group n = 33) and a comparison group of adults who did not participate in the Body Timeline activity and instead only visited the museum (comparison group n = 35). Our results indicate that activity group participants gained skill and perspective with geologic time compared to the comparison group. The activity group post-survey results outperformed the comparison group on both ordering and placement of geological events and demonstrated a more accurate and complete understanding of the scale of geologic time. We conclude the Body Timeline Analogy is a flexible and engaging teaching tool for informal settings that enhances learners’ conceptualization of deep time and geologic history while promoting active participation and scientific curiosity. This study also provides a lesson plan for educators with considerations for use in a variety of educational contexts.