WorksheetsFossil Formation
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 30mins
Where are fossils usually found?
in igneous rock
in sedimentary rock
in your classroom
in metamorphic rock
Scientists who study fossils are called
archeologists
geologists
hydrogeologists
paleontologists
Organisms that have changed over time provide
evidence of the history and past environments on earth
evidence of habits of organisms
Which of the following is NOT something you could learn from a fossil?
The size of the animal
What the animal ate
The color of the animal
Where the animal lived
In order for a fossil to form, which of the following events must happen FIRST?
Slowly, minerals in the water replace the bone.
Sediment covers the bone.
An organism dies.
The bone is no longer a bone, but a rock copy.
What can fossils tell us about an organism?
How long ago an organism lived
Where an organism lived
How an organism lived
All of the above
The process of how an organism is formed into a fossil is called
Fossilization
Metamorphosis
Decompostion
Discovery
Which step in fossilization comes first?
An organism dies and the soft part of it decay.
Over time, layers build pressure that turn the layers to stone.
Wind and water erosion expose the fossil to the surface.
Minerals around the skeleton preserve the bones.
What is the final step of fossilization?
Minerals around the skeleton preserve the bone.
The animal is covered of layers of dirt and sediment.
Wind and water erosion expose the fossil to the surface.
Over time, layers build pressure that turn the layers into stone.
Fossils can teach us about
past
present
future
nothing
ALL organisms become fossils when they die.
True
False
Fossils are still be formed today.
True
False
What a fossilized jawbone or tooth tell us about that animal?
The animal's favorite food.
When the animal lived.
Whether the animal was a herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.
What color was the animal.
When digging beneath the desert, scientist find marine remains. What was that environment in the past?
desert
ocean
swamp
forest
This fossil was found at an excavation site in West Texas. What can a scientist determine about this animal from evidence of the fossil?
A. This animal was a carnivore.
B. This animal was a good swimmer.
C. This animal lived in a cold climate.
D. This animal lived in a large family.
Why are there more animal fossils than plant fossils?
There weren’t as many ancient plants as there were animals
Animals don’t break down as quickly (due to bones) so they are more likely to fossilize
Animals eat plants
Plants are smaller than animals
Finding the fossils of trees in an area that is currently a desert without much life might tell us that the area, millions of years ago –
was heavily eroded by strong winds
received enough rain to support a forest
suffered very powerful earthquakes
was destroyed by the impact of meteorites
This table gives information for different kinds of fossils. Finding which kind of fossil would lead to the conclusion that the area where it was found was, long ago, under hundreds of meters of salt water?
Several wooly mammoth fossils have been found. Mammoths, which lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, were covered with thick fur. Based on this evidence, mammoth fossils tell us that the area in which they are found –
has too many humans
no longer has large animals
was, at one time, very cold
receives more rain than it used to
Finding fossils in an area can help us learn what about that location?
Which places in the region receive the most sunlight
The effect of the climate on the formation of soil
How modern plants and animals interact there
The kinds of organisms that lived there long ago
An area is currently a forest. What evidence would best indicate that this area was covered by water millions of years ago?
An increase in rainfall in the forest over time
Presence of plants in the forest that need water to live
Fossils of fish discovered in rocks below the forest
Insects living in the forest that lay their eggs in water
This table gives information on different fossils. According to the information on the table, finding which fossil in a region would lead to the conclusion that the area was, long ago, covered with trees?
Fossil ferns, like the ferns found in modern swamps, were discovered in a layer of rock. In a rock layer below were found the fossils of cactus, like those that live in hot, arid deserts today. Based on this evidence, we could conclude that the area where the fossils were discovered had what sequence of climates in the past?
Forest, followed by deep ocean
Cold climate that got warmer over time
Rushing river, then a dark cave
Very dry and then, much more damp
Herbivores are animals that eat plants. Finding many fossils of large herbivores in rocks that are millions of years old would lead to what conclusion about the ancient environment of an area? A reasonable conclusion is that the area was once a -
rocky seashore
thriving grassland
frozen lake
muddy swamp
What is a fossil?
The preserved remains of a dead plant or animal found in a rock
Fuels that formed from the decayed remains of plants and animals
A solid natural material that has a crystal form and its own set of properties
A resource that can replace itself in a relatively short period of time
What type of environment existing when this imprint of a fern leaf was created?
Desert
Forest
Ocean
Tundra
This diagram represents the layers of the earth and fossils found in each layer. Based on the drawing, which imprint is the oldest?
Freshwater clam shells
Fish bones
Fern imprints
Leaf imprints
Based on the image, what type of environment did this organism live in?
This organism lived in an ocean.
This organism lived in a river.
This organism lived on land.
This organism lived in a lake.
The diagram represents the layers found inside a rocky cliff. The rock layers contain fossils. Which of the following layers of rock is most likely the youngest?
The layer containing trilobites.
The layer containing fishes.
The layer containing amphibians.
The layer containing mammals.
This rock contains fossils of water plants and shells. What does this tell us about the rock?
The rock contains many living things
The rock needs to be cleaned with water
The rock is heavier than most rocks
The rock was once at the bottom of the sea
This rock contains fossils of water plants and shells. What does this tell us about the rock?
The rock contains many living things
The rock needs to be cleaned with water
The rock is heavier than most rocks
The rock was once at the bottom of the sea
The picture shows a rock found in Texas. Which of the following best illustrates that the rock was formed from ocean sediments?
The number of fossils in the rock
The size of the fossils in the rock
The place where the rock was found
The type of fossils in the rock
The diagram above shows layers of sedimentary rock in the Earth’s crust. In which layer of rock should a scientist expect to find the oldest fossils?
Layer M
Layer N
Layer O
Layer P
Geologists discovered a layer of rock formed millions of years in the past. Which of the following would provide the best evidence of what the environment was like when the rock formed?
The time when the rock appears to have formed
The sediments from which the rock is made
The fossil plants and animals found in the rock
The kinds of rocks above and below the rock layer
Finding fossils of what kind of organism in the rock layers below a forest would lead to the conclusion that the area long ago had a large lake?
Tall trees
Small reptiles
Flowering plants
Freshwater fish
The tables here give information on animal and plant fossils. Based on the information in the tables, which two fossils would most likely be found together in the same rock?
Fish skull and cactus
Mouse skull and seaweed
Alligator toe bone and fern
Shark’s tooth and marsh grass
