Fossils and the Fossil Record

Fossils Review

8th Grade Science

• Fossil is the preserved remains or traces of an organisms that lived in the past

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What is a Fossil?

• Fossils give clues to the diversity of living things over the history of Earth

• Give clues to past climate and surface changes on Earth

• Give clues to changes that have occurred with organisms over time

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What Fossils Reveal?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following fossils do not reveal?

• The changes that took place on Earth over time

• Fossils give clues to the diversity of living things over the history of Earth

• The way Earth was formed

• The changes living things went through over time

Types of Fossils

• Mold

• Petrified

• Cast

• Preserved

• Carbonized (Carbon Film)

• Trace

• Forms when sediments bury an organism and the sediments change into rock

• The organism decays leaving a cavity (hollow) in the shape of the organism

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Mold Fossil

• Forms when a mold is filled with sand or mud that hardens into the shape of the organism

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Cast Fossil

Multiple Choice

Hollow space in the rock which shows the shape of the organism’s remains.

• Mold

• Trace

• Cast

• Tar

Multiple Choice

Formed when the hollow space formed by and organism is filled in with dirt and become solid

• Mold

• Tar

• Cast

• Amber

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a mold fossil?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a cast fossil?

• Forms when minerals soak into the buried remains, replacing the remains, and changing them into rock

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Petrified fossil 

• Forms when organisms or parts, like leaves, stems, flowers, fish, are pressed between layers of soft mud or clay that hardens squeezing almost all the decaying organism away leaving the carbon imprint in the rock

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Carbonized fossil (Carbon Film) 

Multiple Choice

Formed when an organism’s tissues are completely replaced by minerals

• Cast fossil

• Mold fossil

• petrified fossil

• Carbonized fossil

Multiple Choice

Organisms are pressed between layers of mud or clay that hardens, squeezing almost all the decaying organism away leaving the carbon imprint in the rock.

• Mold fossil

• Carbonized Fossil

• Cast Fossil

• Petrified Fossil

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a Carbonized fossil?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is an example of a petrified fossil?

• Forms when entire organisms or parts of organisms are prevented from decaying by being trapped in rock, ice, tar, or amber

Preserved fossil

• Amber is a tree resin

• Small animals can become trapped in resins preserving it for a long time as it harden

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Amber

• Tar can be found naturally

• When living things are trapped they can be preserved

• With tar only the hard parts are preserved

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Tar

• Formed when an animal gets trapped and the temperature is very low

• The animal is preserved as it slows down or prevents decay

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Ice fossil

Trace Fossils are activities of organisms that have been preserved.

• Tracks of animals

• Burrows

• Nests

• Trails

• Fecal remains

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Trace Fossils

Burrows

Nest Fossils

Trails

Fecal Remains

Multiple Choice

What replaces the wood of a once-living thing to form petrified wood?

• amber

• mold

• cast

• minerals

Multiple Choice

This type of fossil is tree sap hardened and replaced by minerals.

• Petrified wood

• Amber

• Mold

• Trace

Multiple Choice

Turtles look much like they did millions of years ago. What can we infer about turtle fossils?

• They did not change over time.

• Turtles went extinct.

• The turtle survived the ice age.

• Turtles were never endangered.

Multiple Choice

This type of fossil provides evidence of the activities of ancient organisms; examples include marks left by footprints or tails

• mold

• trace

• carbon film

• cast

Multiple Choice

Which parts of an organism are more likely to fossilize?

• the soft parts - skin, muscle

• all parts can become fossilized easily because the organism becomes buried by sediments

• the hard parts - bones, shells, stems, teeth

Multiple Choice

What do we call a scientist who studies fossils?

• Geologist

• Paleontologist

• Biologist

Multiple Choice

An insect trapped in amber from a tree-like sap called resin, and a wooly mammoth frozen in ice are examples of?

• Preserved Fossils

• Cast Fossils

• Mold Fossils

• Trace Fossils

Multiple Choice

Requirements for fossil formation to occur:  quick burial of organism, layers of sediments build up over the organism, and finally it is left for a long period of time.  

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Animal footprints, worm tunnels, and the trail that a snake leaves behind are examples of...

• Petrified Fossils

• Cast Fossils

• Trace Fossils

• Carbonized Fossils

Multiple Choice

 A fossil...

• Gives clues to the diversity of organisms on earth

• Gives clues to changes with organisms over time

• Gives clues to past climates and surface changes

• All of the Above