This document discusses the history of life on Earth through fossils and the geologic time scale. It explains that fossils provide evidence of past life and how scientists use relative and absolute dating to determine the age of fossils. The geologic time scale divides Earth's history into manageable periods characterized by dominant organisms, including the Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Mass extinctions periodically wiped out many species, and plate tectonics caused the continents to move over time, changing Earth's climate and requiring adaptation by living things.