Patterns in the Fossil Record

True or False:

Fossils can be used to learn about animals and plants that lived a long time ago.

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

True or False:

Fossil evidence indicates that many modern species evolved from earlier species.

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

True or False:

Fossils found in the same layer of rock are about the same age.

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

What can be told about the age of the fossils in the diagram?

• All of the fossils are the same age because they were all present during the same period.

• The fossils in layer 1 are the oldest, and the fossils in layer 5 are the youngest.

• The fossils in layer 5 are the oldest, and the fossils in layer 1 are the youngest.

• Nothing about the ages of the fossils can be determined from the diagram.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

If a scientist knows the relative age of a fossil, he can also know...

• how it became extinct.

• the relative age of the rock where it was found.

• the type of climate from which it came.

• how long the organism was alive.

What is the most likely explanation for this?

• The life form became extinct in the region long ago.

• The life form only recently moved to the region.

• The life form only recently evolved.

• The life form evolved into all of the species in the next layer.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

f the age of layer 4 is 400 million years and the age of layer 1 is 500 million years, then the age of layer 3 is...

• older than 500 million years.

• 500 million years.

• younger than 400 million years.

• between 400 million and 500 million years.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

What can be determined from examining the fossil record?

• when changes to the diversity of life forms occurred

• when many life forms became extinct

• when many life forms first appeared on Earth

• all of these

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What do these layers and their fossils suggest about Earth's history?

• There have been changes in Earth's lifeforms over time.

• Only one kind of lifeform lived where these layers formed.

• Lifeforms on Earth have been the same over time.

• No lifeforms were present when these layers formed.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which of these might be used to determine common ancestry of two different species of plants?

• fossil evidence

• the size of the population

• similar habitats

• similar ecological niches

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-3