Radiometric Dating
Explain how radiometric dating works — radioactive isotopes decay at a known rate (half-life), so measuring the ratio of parent to daughter isotope in a rock or fossil gives an absolute age; distinguish between carbon-14 (useful up to ~50,000 years) and uranium-lead (useful for millions to billions of years)
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If your child was told a dinosaur bone was dated using uranium-lead radiometric dating, could they explain what that means — what is decaying, why the rate of decay is useful, and roughly why scientists don't use carbon-14 for 70-million-year-old bones?
Where this sits on the map
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Curriculum alignment
Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).
This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1). No NSW K–6 outcome code matched (v0.1). No Victorian Curriculum 2.0 code matched (v0.1).