Unit 3 Flash Card Review

Front

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of living things, such as plants and animals.

Back

Fossils provide important information about the history of life on Earth.

Front

The majority of fossils are formed when living things die and are buried by sediments.

Back

Sediments protect the remains from decay.

Front

Fossils are typically found in sedimentary rock.

Back

Sedimentary rock forms from the accumulation of sediments.

Front

Most fossils only include the hard parts of organisms: bones, shells, teeth, woody stems, seeds.

Back

Soft tissues usually decay before they can be fossilized.

Front

Molds are hollow areas that are the shape of an organism, or part of an organism, left behind in the sediment.

Back

Molds can provide detailed impressions of the organism's structure.

Front

Casts are solid copies of the shapes of organisms.

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Casts form when minerals fill in a mold.

Front

Petrified means "turned into stone."

Back

Petrification occurs when organic material is replaced by minerals.

Front

Preserved remains are formed when the remains of organisms experience little or no change because the organisms are protected from decaying.

Back

This can happen in environments like ice or amber.

Front

Carbon films are fossils with an extremely thin coating of carbon rock.

Back

They represent the outline of the organism.

Front

Trace fossils are preserved evidence of the activities of ancient organisms and provide clues about the organisms.

Back

Examples include footprints, burrows, and feces.