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WorksheetsGeologic Time
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 26mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
Which answer choice shows the geologic eras in the correct order from earliest to the most recent?
a)
paleozoic, precambrian, cambrian, mesozoic, cenozoic
b)
Precambrian, cenozoic, paleozoic, mesozoic
c)
Precambrian, paleozoic, mesozoic, cenozoic
d)
Precambrian, mesozoic, cenozoic, paleozoic
2.
Which era in geologic history are we currently in?
a)
Precambrian
b)
Cenozoic
c)
Paleozoic
d)
Mesozoic
3.
During this era, ferns and cycads were the dominant plants. Dinosaurs and small reptiles dominated the Earth?
a)
Precambrian
b)
Cenozoic
c)
Paleozoic
d)
Mesozoic
4.
Which of the following best describes the process of relative dating?
a)
Determining the percentage of isotopes of radioactive elements in a fossil
b)
Using carbon dating to determine the age of rock layers
c)
Comparing the position of rock layers relative to one another to determine the order that they were laid down.
5.
Which option below represents relative age?
a)
300 million years old
b)
451 million years old
c)
300-400 million years old
6.
What do rocks contain that act like natural clocks?
a)
sediments
b)
layers
c)
radioactive material
d)
varves
7.
The Geologic Time Scale is a record of what?
a)
old geologists
b)
sweet geology music
c)
the known history of rocks and fossils
d)
a list of every living thing ever
8.
How old do Paleontologists believe the Earth is?
a)
2015 years old
b)
3.6 billion years old
c)
4.6 billion years old
d)
4.6 million years old
9.
Paleozoic, Mesozoic & Cenozoic are all
a)
Epochs
b)
Eras
c)
Periods
d)
Eons
10.
Which is the most recent era of time- the one that we are currently in?
a)
Mesozoic
b)
Paleozoic
c)
Cenozoic
d)
Precambrian
11.
Which division on the geologic time scale is the shortest?
a)
epoch
b)
era
c)
eon
d)
period
12.
How log ago did the dinosaurs become extinct?
a)
4.6 billion years ago
b)
3.5 billion yeats ago
c)
65 million years ago
d)
3 million years ago
13.
What organism is responsible for building oxygen levels in the atmosphere?
a)
Humans
b)
Jellyfish
c)
Cyanobacteria
d)
Birds
14.
Which organism appeared first?
a)
Development of Fish
b)
Appearance of Humans
c)
First single-celled organisms (Cyanobacteria)
d)
Appearance of Jellyfish and Corals
15.
What type of rock do fossils form in?
a)
Igneous
b)
Sedimentary
c)
Metamorphic
d)
Classic
16.
Present day Earth is the in the ______ period.
a)
Tertiary
b)
Jurassic
c)
Triassic
d)
Quaternary
17.
What is the largest time frame on geologic time line
a)
eon
b)
era
c)
epoch
d)
period
18.
Put this in order of smallest to largest time frame.
a)
Eon, Era, Periods, Epoch
b)
Periods, Epoch, Eon, Era,
c)
Epochs, Periods, Eras, Eons
d)
Eras, Periods, Epochs, Eons
19.
To become a fossil, organisms must be buried _____
a)
slowly
b)
quickly
20.
Periods can be divided into
a)
eons
b)
epochs
c)
eras
d)
decades
21.
Early atmosphere appeared
a)
Periman
b)
Cenozoic
c)
Precambrain
d)
Phanerozic
22.
The disappearance of a species.
a)
Evolution
b)
Extinction
c)
Migration
d)
Mutation
23.
Fossils in which minerals replace all, or a part, of an organism is what kind of fossil?
a)
Petrified Fossil
b)
Preserved
c)
Fault
d)
Intrusion
24.
What are 2 things that would help preserve remains?
a)
Tar and Amber. Freezing can also preserve remains.
b)
Relative Age and Absolute age
c)
Carbon film and trace fossils
d)
Decay and minerals
25.
A scientist who studies fossils is called a what?
a)
Fossilologist
b)
Rock Hound
c)
Archeologist
d)
Paleontologist
26.
Why is the fossil record incomplete?
a)
fossils get eroded away over time
b)
most organisms never became fossils
c)
scavengers and decomposers eat them too quickly
d)
all of the above
27.
Relative dating of rock layers tells us that the deeper we dig, _______.
a)
the younger the rocks get
b)
the smellier the rocks get
c)
the harder the rocks get
d)
the older the rocks get
28.
Which of the following statements about the fossil record is true?
a)
all organisms become fossils
b)
organisms having soft body parts make up most of the fossils
c)
all organisms that have shells become fossils
d)
the fossil record is incomplete
29.
Most of the fossils found in Virginia are marine organisms. This means Virginia was probably once covered by the
a)
Ocean
b)
Volcanoes
c)
Grassland
d)
Pavement
30.
What is the Cambrian explosion?
a)
sudden appearance of new, complex species
b)
a sudden volcanic eruption
c)
a sudden decrease in species
d)
a mass extinction event
31.
There have been _____ mass extinction events in Earth's history.
a)
3
b)
4
c)
5
d)
2
32.
What are the 2 categories of fossils?
a)
Body and Trace Fossils
b)
Body and Stagnant fossils
c)
Trace and Strong fossils
d)
Amber and Footsteps fossils
33.
Present day Earth is in the ____ epoch?
a)
Holocene
b)
Pleistocene
c)
Miocene
d)
Paleocene
34.
Present day Earth is in the ____ era.
a)
Cenozoic
b)
Mesozoic
c)
Paleozoic
35.
Which of the following is not a trace fossil?
a)
Bone
b)
Wormhole
c)
footprint
d)
Burrow
36.
Forms when entire organisms or parts of organisms are prevented from decaying by being trapped in rock, ice, or tar.
a)
Cast
b)
Petrified
c)
Preserved
d)
Carbonized
37.
Forms when organisms or parts are pressed between layers of soft mud or clay that hardens squeezing almost all the decaying organism away leaving an imprint on the rock.
a)
Petrified
b)
Mold
c)
Cast
d)
Carbonized
38.
What is a fossil?
a)
any dead organism
b)
the preserved remains or traces of an organism
c)
a perfect copy of a rock
d)
an unusual type of rock
39.
How do most fossils form?
a)
Living things die and their remains are covered by sediment
b)
The hard parts of an organism dry out in the air
c)
The soft parts of an organism change to stone
d)
Freezing preserves the remains of an organism
40.
The principle that Earth’s processes occurring today are similar to those that did in the past.
a)
uniformitarianism
b)
natural selection
c)
principle of superposition
d)
cyanobacteria
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