Geologic Time Scale Practice

Which statements in this list refer to relative dating? Choose TWO correct answers. Ronald is learning the difference between absolute and relative dating to determine the age of a rock.

• It is like saying you are younger than your mother.

• Disturbances in the rock layers make this type of dating difficult.

• This is also called radiometric dating.

Which of the following eras are the longest in the geologic time scale?

• A. Precambrian Time

• B. Paleozoic Era

• C. Mesozoic Era

• D. Cenozoic Era

Which of the following eras are the oldest in the geologic time scale?

• A. Cenozoic Era

• B. Precambrian Time

• C. Paleozoic Era

• D. Mesozoic Era

Matching: finding out how old a rock is in actual years

• A. relative dating

• B. absolute dating

• C. mass extinction

• D. fossils

• E. half-life

Matching: the rate of atom decay

• mass extinction

• fossils

• relative dating

• half-life

Matching: Finding out how old one rock is compared to another

• absolute dating

• mass extinction

• relative dating

• fossils

Matching: the end of a group of organisms

• mass extinction

• relative dating

• fossils

• death

Matching: the remains or traces of an organism that lived in the past

• dinosaur

• fossil

• rock

• fish

Which law states that any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers has the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on the bottom.

• Law of Fossils

• Law of Rocks

• Law of Superposition

• Law of Position

What happened in the Precambrian time period?

• Dinosaurs ruled the Earth

• Humans roamed the Earth

• One-celled animals and bacteria first arrived

• Pangea formed