Fossils: What Is a Fossil?

In what type of fossil has once-living material been replaced by minerals?

• amber

• trace fossil

• petrified wood

• carbon film

Why is the object in this image a fossil?

• There are similar shells on Earth today.

• It took a very long time to form from a once-living organism.

• It was dug up by a paleontologist.

• It has no soft parts.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Choose the phrases that describe a fossil.

• woolly mammoth froze in ice

• pinecone from a city park

• an empty seashell on a beach

• impression of a leaf in a rock

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NGSS.MS-LS4-1

True or False: The skeleton of a fish that died and became buried in the ocean floor a month ago is a fossil.

• true

• false

True or False: All of the organisms that lived millions of years ago are extinct.

• true

• false

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Choose all of the phrases that describe a fossil.

• a fish skeleton floating in a lake

• dinosaur footprints and petrified eggs

• imprints of leaves on a concrete sidewalk

• an insect enclosed in amber

• an empty crab shell on a rocky beach

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Fossils come in all shapes and sizes. But no matter the shape or size, they all came from ______ .

• extinct

• plants only

• animimals only

• living organisms

• very old

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Fossils provide evidence of ______ organisms that no longer live on Earth.

• extinct

• plants only

• animimals only

• living organisms

• very old

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which of these would give a scientist the best evidence about the size of a once-living organism?

• a fish bone

• a frog trapped in amber

• a petrified tree stump

• fossilized footprints

True or False: Scientists use fossils and compare them to organisms currently found on Earth to help us learn about extinct organisms.

• true

• false

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2