Quiz about Unit 6 Science Test Fossils

Question 1

Janice found a rock and used a hammer to split it open. One half of the rock had a raised shape of a shell. The other had an impression of the shell. What type of fossil did Janice find?

Accepted Answer

a mold and a cast of a shell

Answer

a shell frozen in rock

Answer

a shell preserved in amber

Answer

a trace fossil of a seashell

Question 2

What type of rock are most fossils found in?

Accepted Answer

sedimentary rock

Answer

Igneous rocks

Answer

metamorphic rock

Answer

sand

Question 3

Which type of fossils would closely resemble how an organism looked like in life?

Accepted Answer

cast

Answer

carbon film

Answer

trace fossil

Answer

mold

Question 4

The Green River Formation in Wyoming is made of layers of rock that contain fabulous fish fossils. What most likely occurred to allow the fish to be preserved so well?

Accepted Answer

The fish got buried in sediment.

Answer

Animals ate the fish so the bones were clean and ready to turn to fossils.

Answer

The fish moved along until it landed in a safe quiet place.

Answer

The temperature increased until conditions were right to form fossils.

Question 5

Which of the following is not an example of some environmental changes that lead to the extinction of organisms?

Accepted Answer

solar ellipse

Answer

climate change

Answer

natural disasters

Answer

deforestation

Question 6

The woolly mammoth lived in a very cold, snowy environment. What of the following might not be a use for its large tusk?

Accepted Answer

to attract a mate

Answer

for protection

Answer

to scrape ice and snow off vegetation

Question 7

What may have caused 75% of Earth's organisms to become extinct approximately 65 million years ago?

Accepted Answer

a meteorite impact

Answer

glaciers

Answer

disease

Answer

the temperature became too warm

Question 8

What is a mass extinction?

Accepted Answer

many species become extinct over a short period of geologic time

Answer

one species evolves into another similar species

Answer

all members of the same species die pout unexpectedly

Answer

large numbers of certain species become extinct overnight

Question 9

Joanie brought home several different seashells from the beach. Which one is a fossil?

Accepted Answer

a rock with an imprint of a seashell

Answer

a clam that died on the way home

Answer

a clump of seashells stuck together

Answer

two seashell halves that fit together

Question 10

Which extinct organism is most closely related to today's sharks?

Accepted Answer

megalodon

Answer

ammonite

Answer

trilobite

Answer

mammoth

Question 11

What is the most likely reason the saber-toothed cat became extinct?

Accepted Answer

Animals they depended upon for food became extinct.

Answer

The temperature became too cold

Answer

Saber-toothed cats were hunted by other animals.

Answer

The area in which they lived became an ocean.

Question 12

What is a scientist who studies fossils called?

Accepted Answer

a paleontologist

Answer

a biologist

Answer

a botanist

Answer

a physicist

Question 13

Fish live in many different environments suchs as lakes, ponds, and oceans. Which is one feature in fish that has changed greatly over time?

Accepted Answer

jaws

Answer

scales

Answer

bones

Answer

eyes

Question 14

Which of the following fossils would make a good index fossil?

Accepted Answer

a trilobite that lived in all areas east of the Mississippi River, in large populations during the the end of the Paleozoic

Answer

a snailt that lived in Ohio, in a small population during the Cenozoic

Answer

a tree fern that lived in northeastern Pennsylvania, in a small population during the Mesozoic

Answer

a magnolia flower that lived in the eastern United States, in large populations during the Cenozoic

Question 15

What can the presence of fossils tell us?

Accepted Answer

All of the above.

Answer

Oceans once covered what is now dry land.

Answer

Forests once covered what are now deserts.

Answer

Glaciers once covered much of North America.

Question 16

What have scientists determined about woolly mammoths?

Accepted Answer

They were able to live in the very cold climates of the ice age.

Answer

The more fur on their body, the older they were.

Answer

Their fur helped block spears from hunters.

Answer

The fur made their bodies too warm and caused them to become extinct.

Question 17

How can you demonstrate relative dating using a stack of newspapers?

Accepted Answer

by describing the placement of the paper within the stack.

Answer

by identifying the age of each paper by the date listed at the top of each one

Answer

by noting the dates of the top and bottom

Answer

by comparing the stack of papers to a stack of different newspaper

Question 18

What does the fossil record refer to?

Accepted Answer

the fossils in the rock layers on Earth

Answer

the fossils in a layer being studied

Answer

an encyclopedia of fossil photos

Answer

a recording of fossil names

Question 19

After examining the rock layers in one place, your class hiked a mile away and looked at another set of rock layers. How can you determine if these rock layers are the same age as those at the first location?

Accepted Answer

by comparing the rock types from both locations to see if they are the same

Answer

by picking random fossils and comparing them to those at the first location

Answer

by trying to match all of your rocks and fossils with those at the first location

Answer

by using a fossil guidebook to identify the fossils and then matching them to the layers.

Question 20

Fossils of Mesosaurus are found in South America and Africa. What does this suggest?

Accepted Answer

that these two continents were once connected

Answer

that Mesosaurus lived in the ocean

Answer

that Mesosaurus ate the plant Glossopteris

Answer

that Mesosauruscans be used as an index fossil

Question 21

Todd's school was having an addition built on. Once the ground was dug up, his teacher brought his class out to examine the rock layers exposed in the ground. They were able to see fossils such as coral, clams, and fish. What did this tell them about the environment many years ago.

Accepted Answer

An ocean once covered the area.

Answer

Desert sand covered this area.

Answer

There was a forest in this area.

Answer

The environment was cold and icy.

Question 22

Which could result in a mass extinction?

Accepted Answer

no rain for long periods of time

Answer

heavy thunderstorms

Answer

alternating dry and wet seasons

Answer

rainy seasons followed by short periods of dry weather

Question 23

Jeffery visited the La Brea tar pits in California with his family. He learned that the plants that lived in the area 40,000 years ago were not much different from those that live in and around Los Angeles today. What does this information tell scientist?

Accepted Answer

The climate is not much different from what is was back then.

Answer

None of the plants has changed since that time.

Answer

The animals that lived then are the same now.

Answer

Yearly rainfall has increased steadily.

Question 24

Sharon is studying some rock layers near her home. She uses the terms Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic to name them in order of their age. What are all these terms part of?

Accepted Answer

the geologic time scale

Answer

the world calendar

Answer

Earth's history

Answer

the fossil record

Question 25

Scientists know that the continents have moved across Earth's surface throughout history. What is the name of the idea that first describes the movement of continents?

Accepted Answer

continental drift

Answer

plate tectonics

Answer

continent movement

Answer

landform change

Unit 6 Science Test Fossils

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