Earth History Study Guide

What is a fossil?

• any dead organism

• the preserved remains or traces of an organism

• a perfect copy of a rock

• an unusual type of rock

How do most fossils form?

• living things die and their remains are buried by sediments

• the hard parts of an organism dry out in the air

• the soft parts of an organism change to stone

• freezing preserves the remains of organisms

Fossils usually occur in ________ rock.

On the geologic time scale, the ______________ era is divided into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

What type of fossil is formed when minerals replace all or part of an organism?

• mold

• cast

• petrified

• preserved

____________ can provide clues about the activities of ancient organisms.

• trace fossils

• remains preserved in amber

• carbon films

• molds

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

The process by which all the different kinds of living things have changed over long periods of time is called _____.

• sedimentation

• deposition

• replacement

• evolution

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

Plant leaves may form a fossil called a _______________, which is a thin layer on a rock.

__________________ are scientists who study fossils.

A type of organism that no longer exists on Earth is known as....

• fossilized

• sedimentary

• extinct

• petrified

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1