New SSA Review Evolution of Earth

Many shorelines have been found in the mountains around Lake Bonneville. Which of the following conclusions can you make based on that fact?

• The area was once under water

• Glaciers once covered the region

• The lake was full of minerals

• Algae grew in the shallow areas of the lake

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

A rock was found lying on the ground in the Silver Island Range. A snail fossil was found inside the rock. How can the snail fossil be used to determine the age of the rock?

• Compare the rock it is in with other rocks of known age

• Analyze the carbon isotopes in the rock

• Compare it with known index fossils

• Determine the age of the rock layer where it was found

Which rock layer shown at site 2 would you expect to be the youngest?

• Layer 1

• Layer 2

• Layer 3

• Layer 4

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

What is the most likely explanation for the presence of the types of fossils seen?

• The fossils were transported by the action of glaciers

• When the rock layer formed, the area was under the sea

• In the distant past, these creatures lived on the land

• The rock has been affected by volcanic activity

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which characteristic provides the best evidence that two rock layers in different locations are a similar age?

• the types of minerals found

• the depth of the rock layer

• the weathering of the rock

• the types of fossils contained

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which of the following is the strongest argument supported by this image?

• The continents must have moved in the past, because we can measure their movement today

• Plants and animals migrate from one place to another all the time, as can be seen on this map

• Remains of similar fossils have been found in places that are far apart in modern times and as animals had no way to get across the ocean, these continents must have been closer together

• Paleobotanists have established “climate bands” that match up the areas hypothesized to have been attached in the past

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

In addition to the moving of land masses over millions of years, which other changes on the Earth’s surface can be explained by Plate Tectonics?

• erosion of canyons

• droughts

• mountain building

• spit formation

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Not only did the fossil remains need to be of the same species, but scientists also needed to show they were found in rocks of a similar age. Which of the following best describes the importance of superposition in determining the age of a rock?

• It refers to the magnetic orientation in the atoms of a sample

• It is the tendency for some minerals and compounds to age at different rates, which can be measured

• It is the measurement of radioactive isotopes and their relative abundance over years

• It is the idea that an object cannot be older than the materials that it was made from

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

A paleontologist was studying several different fossils in her collection. She recorded the depth at which each was collected and recorded it in the table.

What conclusion can she make about the ages of the fossils?

• Fossil 1 is the most recent because it was found the deepest

• Fossil 5 was deposited in its rock layer much earlier than Fossil 2

• Fossil 3 could date back to the beginnings of Earth

• Fossil 4 was deposited at the same time that Fossil 2 broke apart on the surface

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

A geologist is out hiking when she comes across the following scene.

She believes that object A is much younger than its surroundings. How could the geologist gather useful physical evidence to support her idea?

• She could determine the amount of physical weathering on object and compare it to the amount of rainfall in the area for the past decade

• She could measure the amount of radioactive minerals in object A and compare it to the amounts of radioactive minerals in similar objects nearby

• She could determine what minerals are present in object A and compare them to the minerals found in boulders in the area

• She could measure the density of object A and compare it to the density of similar-sized rocks found nearby

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4