Fossils April 15

What is the order in which fossils form?

• 1. organism is buried, 2. Fossil is formed, 3. Fossils dies
• 1. Organism dies, 2. Fossils is formed, Fossil is buried
• 1. Organism dies, 2. organism is buried, 3. Fossil forms

Which part of the animal is most likely to become a fossil?

• stomach

• muscle

• feather

• bone

What usually has to happen for a fossil to form?

• An animal must die and float in the ocean

• An animal must die and be buried by mud, sand or clay.

• An animal must stay alive for many years

No one has ever seen a living dinosaur. Paleontologists must make predictions about what dinosaurs were like based on the fossilized bones that they find. Why might a paleontologist think that the dinosaur in the photo lived on land?

• It has body structures that are similar to living animals that are found on land.

• Its fossils were found in the same rock layer as a kind of fish.

• Its fossils were found in a rock layer on the bottom of the ocean.

Which of the following fossil discoveries best demonstrates a change in the Earth's surface?

• Scientists discover a large number of footprints of different sizes.

• Scientists discover fossils of straight teeth buried below fossils of curved teeth.

• Scientists discover fossils of underwater organisms in an area of dry land.

We can learn about extinct plants and animals by

• studying fossils made by the organisms.

• measuring the distance between our sun and the next star.

• studying some of the extinct organisms still alive today.

A scientist finds a fossil of a fern near a fossil of a small mammal.

Which of the following is likely true about the organisms that made the fossils?

• They had nothing in common with each other.

• They are the same kind of organism.

• They were alive during the same time period.

A bird dies and becomes buried in the mud on a beach. After millions of years, the bird may

• become a plant.

• become a fossil

• turn into a shark

• turn into an insect