Storiascopio · Era 1 of 12 · primary year 3
Carboniferous forests
about 320 million years ago · Swamps near the equator (now Europe and North America)
In short
During the Carboniferous, vast warm swamps were covered with ferns and giant clubmosses, plants as tall as trees with scaly trunks. Plant remains buried in mud, where there was no oxygen, much later became huge coal deposits. In the oxygen-rich air there were also enormous insects and millipedes, such as dragonflies with wings more than half a metre across.
Why it matters Those forests changed the climate and the atmosphere, and left resources that human industry would later use.
Source: University of California Museum of Paleontology, “The Carboniferous Period”
Where we are in the era “The Earth before us”
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about 13.8 billion years agoEvent 20 of 25about 66 million years ago
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/carboniferous-forests/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class