Geologic History - Mastery Ticket

What can we learn from fossils?

• How earthquakes formed.
• How erosion changed mountains
• How Earth's magnetic field was formed
• How Earth's environment has changed

What might you conclude if a fish fossil was found on top of a mountain in Kentucky?

• An Earthquake happened there.
• A Volcano erupted there.
• A forest covered that area for a while.
• A Sea once covered the area.

Relative dating of rock layers tells us that the deeper we dig, _______.

• the younger the rocks get
• the smellier the rocks get
• the harder the rocks get
• the older the rocks get

How old do Paleontologists believe the Earth is?

• 2015 years old
• 3.6 billion years old
• 4.6 billion years old
• 4.6 million years old

What type of rock do fossils form in?

• Igneous
• Sedimentary
• Metamorphic
• Classic

Most events on the geologic timeline happened:

• a long time ago, near the beginning
• more recently, near the modern time
• evenly spread out
• right in the center of the timeline

Which rock layer in the diagram seems to be the oldest?

• F

• E

• B

• A

Which of the following questions can be answered by studying these fossil layers?

• What did the fish eat?

• Which organisms lived before/after/or at the same time?

• Why did dinosaurs become extinct?

• Are reptiles the ancestors to birds or fish?

When scientists use logic to determine the age of one fossil compared to another, they use this type of dating.

• Relative

• Carbon

• Absolute

What can scientists learn from the sequence of rock layers?

• Geologic history of that area

• Future geological events

• the number of organisms that live in the area

• the impact that hikers have had on an area.