Unit 1: Lesson 2: Patterns of Change in Life on Earth

Multiple Choice

Why is it important to study patterns of change in life on Earth?

• To understand how species adapt and evolve over time

• To learn about the extinction of dinosaurs only

• To memorize scientific names of animals

• To ignore changes in the environment

Open Ended

What factors do you think can lead to the extinction of a species?

Open Ended

What can explain the formation of a rock layer with no fossils in between rock layers with different types of fossils?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements best describes what fossils can show us about extinct organisms?

• Fossils show where and when certain extinct organisms lived.

• Fossils show how all organisms are related.

• Fossils only show the size of extinct organisms.

• Fossils show only the color of extinct organisms.

Multiple Select

Which of the following information can fossils provide?

• Information about past environments

• Patterns of species appearance and disappearance

• How species migrated across continents

• Both A and B

Open Ended

How did scientists use carbon atoms to conclude that life existed on Earth 3.8 billion years ago?

Multiple Choice

What is the Cambrian explosion, and why is it significant in the study of life on Earth?

• A sudden increase in volcanic activity

• A period when single-celled life first appeared

• A large increase in the variety of fossils formed

• A mass extinction event

Open Ended

What does a rock layer with very few fossils suggest about conditions in that region when the rock layer formed? Record your evidence.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements best describes the trend in fossil complexity over time, as shown by more recent rock layers?

• Fossils become less complex over time

• Fossils remain unchanged over time

• Fossils become more complex over time

• Fossils disappear completely over time

Multiple Choice

Based on the fossil record, which of the following patterns can be observed in the number of life forms over time?

• Continuous increase in species without loss

• Loss of certain species and periods of high species loss

• No change in biodiversity

• Sudden appearance of all species at once

Open Ended

Explain how the fossil record can be used to identify an extinction event.

Multiple Choice

Which mass extinction event occurred most recently according to the slide?

• Ordovician-Silurian

• Late Devonian

• Permian-Triassic

• Cretaceous-Tertiary

Open Ended

Explain how mass extinction events can affect both animal and plant species, using examples from the slides.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following plant families showed an increase in number after extinction events?

• Angiosperms

• Cycads

• Pteridophyte

• Ginkgo

Open Ended

Why might different types of fossils be found in rock layers that come before and after a rock layer that contains no fossils? Record your evidence.

Open Ended

Transitional fossils are an important part of the fossil record. What evidence do scientists use to identify a transitional fossil?

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the most likely reason for a rock layer to have no fossils between layers that do contain fossils?

• A period where no organisms lived or conditions did not favor fossilization

• A sudden increase in volcanic activity that destroyed all fossils

• The rock layer was artificially created by humans

• The fossils were removed by scientists

Open Ended

How might a rock layer with no fossils have formed between rock layers with different types of fossils? Use evidence to support your explanation.

Open Ended

Reflecting on today's lesson about extinction, why do you think it is important to understand patterns of change in life on Earth?