Fossil Record Evolution

Order the fossils according to their relative age from oldest to youngest.

• 1,2,3,4,5

• 5,4,3,2,1

• 5,3,4,1,2

• 2,1,4,3,5

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

A scientist studied sedimentary rock samples from the Devonian period. He claimed he found mammal fossils mixed with amphibian fossils. Which response to the scientist’s claim is most supported by the chart?

• Devonian rocks are too old to contain amphibian fossils.

• Finding fossils of any kind in rocks from the Devonian period is unusual.

• Devonian rocks would not contain mammal fossils, because mammals appeared in later time periods.

• Mammal fossils and amphibian fossils will not be found in Devonian rocks, because the two types of animals live in different habitats.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What term do scientists use to describe what happened at each of the marked points on the graph?

• Mass Extinction

• Minor Extinction

• There is no name for this

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What can scientists use to explain when the fossils in the bottom of the figure appeared on Earth?

• relative-age dating

• trace fossils

• mineralization

• carbonization

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

The diagram below shows a portion of the fossil record in sedimentary rock. Different rock layers and fossils are clearly visible. Which layer of rock is the oldest?

• Layer A is the oldest.

• Layer B is the oldest.

• Layer D is the oldest.

• They are all the same age.

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

What type of dating scale is shown on the right side of the figure?

• Relative Age Dating Scale

• Absolute Age Dating Scale

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Which of the following is NOT a fossil?

• outline of a fern found in a rock

• petrified wood in the desert

• baby mammoth found in a glacier

• old stone tools found in a cave

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Change in a population over time is called _____.

• conservation

• evolution

• extinction

• mutation

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

NGSS.MS-LS4-4

What is the fossil record?

• All the fossils ever discovered on Earth

• a chart that divides Earth’s history into different time units.

• when the last individual organism of a species dies

• fossils that have characteristics of both ancestral organisms and organisms that evolved

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Which of the following organisms could have evolved during the Precambrian Era?

• 
• 
• 
• 

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2