Geologic History of Earth

When examining rock layers, where do you find the oldest material? Why is this the case?

Answer explanation

When examining rock layers, the oldest material is found at the bottom. This is because newer rock and minerals are piled on top of the older layers creating distinct rock layers over time.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Why is the geologic timescale helpful for describing Earth’s history?

Answer explanation

The Earth is very old (4.6 billion years old), so a timeline of the history of the Earth would be very large (too large) if presented at the same scale as the timeline of the history of a person. The geologic timescale was created in order to have a manageable timeline.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Fossils of trees were discovered in a sedimentary rock layer, and in a rock layer below were fossils of clams. Based on this evidence, what conclusion can be made about the sequence of climates in the past in the area where the fossils were discovered?

Answer explanation

Based on the evidence of the layers in which the fossils were discovered, it can be concluded that the layer with clam fossils was a beach prior to becoming a forest.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What is relative dating?

Answer explanation

Relative dating is the determining of the order of past geologic events without giving a specific age of the rock.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

What information might a scientist learn when studying Earth's geological history?

Answer explanation

When studying Earth’s geological history, a scientist might learn how landforms were made, patterns of animal movement, plant life, presence of water, volcanic activity, etc.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

If you were to create a model of fossil layers, what would you want to include to make your model accurate?

Answer explanation

I would want to include several distinguishable layers with different items to show the different organisms in each layer.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Match the following

• Fossil

• The sedimentary layers of rock in Earth

• Rock strata

• The study of rock layers

• Geologic time scale

• The preserved remains or trace of an organism

• Stratigraphy

• The measurement to describe the timing and relationship of the events that have occurred throughout Earth's history

• Fossil record

• The mineralized remains of organisms and the rock layers in which they are formed

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

Scientists study​ (a)   and the ​ (b)   to help determine the geologic history of the Earth. Analyses provide only ​ (c)   dates, not an ​ (d)   scale. Earth has a 4.6-​ (e)   -year history. The oldest fossils are found in the bottom layer of the fossil record.

• rock strata
• fossil record
• relative
• absolute
• billion
• million

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4