Fossil Facts

Multiple Choice

Students notice a fossil of seaweed in a rock found in the middle of Georgia. What conclusion could they form based on this evidence?

• Part of Georgia was once under salt water.

• Weathering and erosion break down rocks.

• Trees in the forest need sunlight in order to grow.

• Ancient animals ate seaweed to get energy.

Multiple Choice

What can we learn from studying the fossils in a certain area?

• How much sunlight the area received

• The direction the wind used to blow in the past

• How much rain fell in the area last year

• The kinds of animals that lived there

Multiple Choice

__________ is the preserved remains of animals, plants, or other organisms from the past.

• Evidence

• Sequence

• Fossils

• Organisms

Multiple Choice

A fossil of a fish found many layers below a fossil of a lizard would have lived after the lizard.

• true

• false

Multiple Choice

The age of a rock compared to the ages of other rocks.

• absolute

• uniform

• casual

• relative

Multiple Choice

What can evidence like leaf edge shape tell us about the past?

• temperatures

• parenting

• predators

• all of these

Multiple Choice

When we know the exact age of a fossil it is the _____ age.

• random

• approximate

• relative

• absolute

Multiple Choice

Which layer is oldest?

• f

• a

• c

• e

Multiple Choice

Which fossil is youngest

• gastropod

• trilobite

• fern

• crinoid

Multiple Choice

People who study fossils are called __________ .

• fossilologist

• paleontologist

• meteorologist

• fossil hunters

Multiple Choice

Which is something you could NOT learn from a fossil?

• the size of the plant/animal

• what the animal ate

• what color the plant/animal was

• where the plant/animal lived

Multiple Select

Which of these are things scientists can learn from fossils? Select all that apply.

• what the animal ate

• why the plant or animal died

• what plants and animals lived together

• what color the plant/animal was

• how long ago the plant or animal lived

Multiple Choice

What happens when a group of animals become extinct?

• All of its members have died.
• Only a few of its members are still living.
• The animals can no longer lay eggs.
• All of its members move to another place.

Multiple Choice

I found a fossil of a fish in what is now a cow pasture. How is that possible?

• Somebody put the fossil there.
• The wind moved the fossil there over time.
• The cow pasture used to be underwater.
• It would not be possible to find a fossil of a fish in a cow pasture.

Multiple Choice

True or false: All once-living organisms left behind fossils.

• True.
• False.

Multiple Choice

Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by ______ that hardened into rock over time.

• sediment

• carbon film

• extinct

• fossil records

Multiple Choice

Which of the following can be learned by using the fossil record?

• When organisms changed or evolved

• when organisms appeared on Earth

• when organisms became extinct

• All the above

Multiple Choice

What are the oldest fossils and why?

• B, C- because they are closest to the top

• A, B- because they are closest to the bottom

• They are all the same age- because they are all found on layer 2

• A, B- because they are found closest to the top

Multiple Choice

In layers of sedimentary rock, the _________ layer is usually at the bottom. Each higher layer is _________ than the layers below it.

• oldest, younger
• youngest, older
• youngest, younger
• oldest, older

Multiple Choice

Relative dating can only help scientists determine whether one fossil is older than another.

• True
• False

Multiple Choice

What is a mass extinction?

• the extinction of all of Earth's species at ones time
• the extinction of many types of organisms at the same time
• the end of days
• the creation of many species at one time

Multiple Choice

How many layers is fossil 'A' found in?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Choice

When did fossil A become extinct?

• Layer 1

• Layer 2

• Layer 3

• Layer 4

Multiple Choice

In which layer did fossil C come into existence? How do you know this?

• Layer 1-Because that is the layer it is first seen

• Layer 1- Because that is the last layer it is seen in

• Layer 2- Because that is the layer it is first seen

• Layer 2- Because that is the last layer it is seen in

Multiple Choice

True or False: Evidence from the fossil record shows that species change gradually over time.

• True

• False