wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Geologic Time & History of the Earth

Total questions: 35

Worksheet time: 26mins

Name
Class
Date
1.
One of the units of geologic time into which geologists divide eras.
a)
era
b)
geologic time scale
c)
period
d)
uncomformity
2.

The Earth is estimated to be _____ years old

a)

4.6 million

b)

4.6 billion

c)

46 million

d)

46 billion

3.

Which time period is the most recent?

a)

Mesozoic

b)

Cenozoic

c)

Paleozoic

4.
A scientist who studies fossils to learn about organisms that lived long ago.
a)
chemist
b)
biologist
c)
astrologist
d)
paleontologist
5.

Which Era was dominated by dinosaurs?

a)

Paleozoic

b)

Mesozoic

c)

Cenozoic

d)

Cambrian

6.

What type of event usually marks the end of an Era

a)

A Mass Extinction

b)

A Quinceanera

c)

An earthquake

d)

Evolution of a species

7.

Which era began with the early invertebrates, such as trilobites and brachiopods.

a)

Paleozoic

b)

Mesozoic

c)

Cenozoic

8.

early vertebrate fish began to develop in the

a)

Paleozoic era

b)

Mesozoic era

c)

Cenozoic era

9.

The earliest span of time in Earth history is called...

a)

Precambrian time

b)

Phanerozoic time

c)

Homeroom

d)

Cenozoic time

10.

The first bird appeared in this period

a)

Cambrian period

b)

Jurassic period

c)

Triassic period

d)

Quaternary period

11.
What type of rock do fossils form in?
a)
Igneous
b)
Sedimentary
c)
Metamorphic
d)
Classic
12.
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
13.

What type of organism eventually put oxygen into the atmosphere?

a)

plants

b)

photosynthetic cyanobacteria

c)

algae

d)

trees

14.
Which of these is not an organism that appeared during the Cambrian Explosion? 
a)
sponges
b)
worms
c)
fish
d)
jellyfish
15.
No land plants or animals existed until later in the paleozoic era because 
a)
There was no air in the atmosphere
b)
The supercontinent of Rodinia made life impossible
c)
The radiation from the sun would have killed any plant or animal
d)
There was no land
16.

The first supercontinent was

a)

Rodinia

b)

Pangaea

c)

Middle Earth

d)

Westeros

17.

Which of these is not a type of gas found in Earth's early atmosphere?

a)

hydrogen cyanide

b)

hydrogen sulfide

c)

carbon dioxide

d)

oxygen

18.

What caused the mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic Era?

a)

Asteroid collision with Earth

b)

Volcanic eruptions

c)

Ice Age

d)

Presence of oxygen in atmosphere

19.

When did flowering plants (angiosperms) first appear?

a)

Cretaceous

b)

Devonian

c)

Triassic

d)

Quaternary

20.

During what period did our fossil fuels first start to form?

a)

Silurian

b)

Ordovician

c)

Carboniferous

d)

Triassic

21.

Which of these did NOT appear during the Cambrian explosion?

a)

Jellyfish

b)

Trilobites

c)

Worms

d)

Amphibians

22.

What were the first land plants?

a)

Moss & ferns

b)

Algae

c)

Gymnosperms

d)

Angiosperms

23.

When did Pangaea form?

a)

End of Permian / Start of Triassic period

b)

Start of Jurassic period

c)

Start of Cambrian period

d)

Start of Tertiary period

24.

What was the name of one of the first birds?

a)

Archaeopteryx

b)

Placodermata

c)

Paleoloxodon

d)

Coelocantha

25.

The last ice age was 11,000 years ago - this led to the extinction of all of the following except

a)

wooly mammoths

b)

saber-toothed cats

c)

giant bears

d)

megalodon

26.

Oxygen became abundant in Earth's atmosphere 3.8 bya during the

a)

Proterozoic Eon

b)

Archaen Eon

c)

Hadean Eon

d)

Mesozoic Era

27.
Analyze the seashell found in the white layer.  Which statement is true of the rock layer that contains this fossil?
a)
It could also contain a fossil from the bottom layer.
b)
It is older than the layers below it.
c)
It is younger than the layers above it.
d)
It is older than the layers above it.
28.

The fossil record shows that horseshoe crabs have existed with very little change for about 1 billion years. Would horseshoe crabs be useful as an index fossil?

a)

Yes, because they were around for a very long time

b)

No, because horseshoe crabs can never be used as index fossils

c)

No, because they were around for TOO LARGE of an amount of time

d)

Yes, because horseshoe crabs can always be used as index fossils

29.

The age of a rock compared to the ages of other rocks is the rock's (a)  

Choose from the below words
absolute age
geologic age
sedimentary age
relative age
30.

The amount of time it takes for 50% of the remaining radioactive material to decay into stable material is called: (a)  

Choose from the below words
radiocarbon dating
radioactive decay
half-life
successive decay time
31.

The time required for half of the parent isotope to decay into daughter isotopes.

a)

Absolute Age

b)

Relative Age

c)

Fossil

d)

Half-life

32.

Represent species that existed on Earth for a short length of time, were abundant and inhabited many locations.

a)

Rocks

b)

Radioactive Decay

c)

Index Fossils

d)

Half-Life

33.
The graph shows the radioactive decay of a 50-gram sample of a radioactive isotope. 
According to the graph, what is the half-life of this isotope
a)

100 years

b)

150 years

c)

200 years

d)

300 years

34.

Carbon14 has a half-life of 5,730 years and a dating range of 500-500,000 years. Would we be able to use this isotope to assign an absolute age to a dinosaur fossil?

a)

No

b)

Yes

c)

Maybe

35.

According to the chart, which of these would be most likely used to date the age of the Earth (select all that apply)

a)

potassium-40

b)

rubidium-87

c)

uranium-238

d)

carbon-14