Walk through Geologic Time

Walk through Geologic Time

by Nikkole Wowaka

Multiple Choice

Approximately how many years ago did Earth form?

• 460 years

• 460,000 years

• 4.6 million years ago

• 4.6 billion years ago

Geologic Time Spans

Earth’s History spans 4.6 billion years.

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Scientists have divided this large time span into smaller units called eras and periods.

Geologic Time Scale is sometimes called the calendar of Earth’s history.

*If geologic time were compressed into a single 24-hour day, humans would only have shown up within the final minute.

Multiple Choice

What does the prefix Paleo- mean?

• Recent

• Middle

• Life

• Ancient

Multiple Choice

What does the prefix Ceno- mean?

• Recent

• Middle

• Life

• Ancient

Multiple Choice

What does the prefix Meso- mean?

• Recent

• Middle

• Life

• Ancient

Multiple Choice

What does the suffix -zoic mean?

• Recent

• Middle

• Life

• Ancient

Subdivisions of Time

Eon: measured in billions of years, is the longest time unit of the geologic time scale (2 or more eras)

Era: defined by the differences in life-forms found in rock and measured in hundreds of millions to billions of years (2 or more periods)

Periods: usually measured in tens of millions of years to hundreds of millions of years, are defined by the life forms that were abundant or became extinct during the time in which specific rocks were deposited (2 or more epochs)

Epochs: smallest divisions of geologic time and are usually measured in thousands of years to tens of millions of years.

Multiple Choice

Which is the longest time period in the geological time scale?

• Period

• Epoch

• Era

• Eon

Multiple Choice

the correct order of the units of the geologic time scale from longest to shortest is

• epoch, period, era, eon

• era, epoch, eon, period

• eon, epoch, period, era

• eon, era, period, epoch

Multiple Choice

Time unit in the geological time scale smaller than a period, measured in hundreds of thousands to millions of years

• periods

• fossil index

• classification

• epoch

Multiple Choice

Jellyfish are one of the oldest species on Earth. In what time period did they first appear?

• Precambrian Time

• Paleozoic Era

• Mesozoic Era

• Cenozoic Era

Multiple Choice

Theia was a young planet which struck the Earth. The debris from that collision created which of the following?

• Saturn

• Moon

• An Asteroid

• Mars

Multiple Choice

What was the first era?

• Paleozoic Era

• Cenozoic Era

• Mesozoic Era

• Precambrian Time

Multiple Choice

The Precambrian Time span makes up around _________ of the Earth's entire history.

• 50%

• 60%

• 80%

• 90%

Multiple Choice

There are a lot of fossils from precambrian time.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

What where the Eons of the Precambrian?

• Hadean, Cambrian, Silurian

• Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene

• Permian, Triassic, Jurassic

• Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic

Multiple Choice

The Hadean Eon is not part of the rock record

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

Which of the following was not present in early Earth?

• Carbon Dioxide

• Nitrogen Gas

• Oxygen

• Water Vapor

Multiple Choice

The Archean time followed the Hadean, and earth began to form a ________

• crust

• core

• mantle

• magnetic field

Multiple Choice

Which type of life dominates the Precambrian Time?

• Dinosaurs
• Mammals
• Bacteria
• Humans

Multiple Choice

What we the first oxygen producing life called?

• Hemostats

• Stromatolites

• Tomatolites

• Proterotites

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the first supercontinent?

• Laurasia

• Gondwana

• Pangea

• Rodinia

Multiple Choice

Era of "ancient life"

• Mesozoic

• Paleozoic

• Cenozoic

Multiple Choice

At the beginning of the Paleozoic Era, a LOT of life evolved during the

• Precambrian Explosion

• Cambrian Explosion

• Paleozoic Explosion

• Phanerozoic Explosion

Multiple Choice

The period of geologic time when the biodiversity (variety) of life on the planet increased dramatically was

• Jurassic

• Triassic

• Permian

• Cambrian

Multiple Choice

Trilobites were alive during the _____________.

• Cenozoic

• Mesozoic

• Paleozoic

• Cretaceous

Multiple Choice

Oceans started as

• freshwater

• saltwater

Multiple Choice

what was the nickname of the middle Paleozoic?

• the age of special creatures

• the age of invertebrates

• the age of amphibians

• the age of fishes

Multiple Choice

what Is a coal swamp?

• A swamp that is all black and nasty looking

• Is an oxygen-poor environment where plant material changes into coal over time.

• A swamp filled with coal made out of devolved rocks.

• The swamp where shrek lives

Multiple Choice

When did large land reptiles first appear?

• Cambrian

• Permian

• Silurian

• Ordovician

Multiple Choice

A giant landmass that formed at the end of the Paleozoic Era when the continents came together.

• North America

• Eurasia

• Pangea

• Gondwana

Multiple Choice

Who is the person credited with developing the theory of continental drift?

• Harry Hess
• Galileo
• Alfred Wegener
• Newton

Multiple Select

Which type of evidence was used by Alfred Wegener to support his continental drift hypothesis?

• landforms (mountain ranges and rock types)

• fossils that couldn't have swam across the oceans

• human remains

• climate change evidence such as glaciers and tropical fossils

• the puzzle-like fit of certain continents

Multiple Choice

the Paleozoic era ended with ______ .

• The biggest party ever

• The largest mass extinction in Earths history

• a mass extinction

• Cambrian explosion

Multiple Choice

What was the cause of the extinction?

• A massive meteoroid

• Too much oxygen in oceans

• Too little oxygen in oceans

• A series of volcanic eruptions

Multiple Select

Which Periods make up the Mesozoic Era?

• Cambrian

• Jurassic

• Tertiary

• Triassic

• Cretaceous

Multiple Choice

The Mesozoic Era is also known as the...

• Age of Mammals

• Age of Fishes

• Age of Reptiles

• Age of Invertebrates

Multiple Choice

What is the name of the supercontinent that breaks apart during the Jurassic period?

• Pangea

• Rhodonia

• Laurasia

• Pannotia

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the giant ocean that existed at the beginning of the Mesozoic Era?

• Indian Ocean

• Atlantic Ocean

• Panthalassa Ocean

• Paleozoic Ocean

Multiple Choice

Over all the Mesozoic Era was _________ than in the Paleozoic Era and there were more deserts and less marshland.

• wetter

• colder

• winder

• dryer

Multiple Choice

Plants that began to grow during the end of the Mesozoic era were...

• Ferns

• Cone-bearing

• Flowering Plants

• No plants

Multiple Choice

Which of the following animals did NOT live during the Mesozoic era?

• Birds

• Dinosaurs

• Fish

• Monkeys

• Reptiles

Multiple Choice

What major event ended the Mesozoic Era ?

• The Earth stopped rotating.

• One of several "Ice Ages".

• An asteroid struck the Earth.

• A tornado destroyed most life on the planet.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following types of organisms benefited the most from the extinction of the dinosaurs?

• birds and mammals

• fishes and invertebrates

• flowering plants and ferns

• trilobites and cephalopods

Multiple Choice

The Era when humans first appeared was...

• Cenozoic
• Mesozoic
• Paleozoic
• Precambrian

​

​Tertiary is also split into Paleogene and Neogene

Multiple Choice

What is the Cenozoic Era also known as ?

• Age of Mammals
• Age of Plants
• Age of Cenozoic 
• Age of Birds 

Multiple Choice

How long ago did the Cenozoic Era start ?

• 45 million years ago
• 65 million years ago
• 34 million years ago 
• 75 million years ago 

Multiple Choice

Which of the following evolved during the Cenozoic Era

• grasses

• large grazing mammals

• humans

• all of these

Multiple Choice

What does Cenozoic mean?

• early life
• middle life
• recent life

Multiple Choice

During the Cenozoic the climate cooled significantly which became known as an ____________.

• catastrophic event

• global warming

• ice age

• extinction event

Multiple Choice

This marks the end of the Cenozoic era.

• climate change
• This era has not ended.
• Astreroid impact
• Global warming

Multiple Choice

According to most scientists, what is the ultimate cause of most mass extinctions?

• overhunting

• evolution of new species to replace old ones

• major change in environment or climate

• asteroid impact

Multiple Choice

What division of time was the longest ?

• Paleozoic

• Mesozoic

• Cenozoic

• Precambrian

Multiple Choice

Humans are causing a "6th extinction" event

• true

• false