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Fossils Review

Total questions: 52

Worksheet time: 31mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

The illustration shows a fossil of a dinosaur skull. Which of the following best describes why this fossil is not made of bone but rock?

a)

The dinosaur ate many plants that contained minerals.

b)

The dinosaur died when a rock fell on it and crushed it.

c)

The dinosaur skull changed from bone to rock in the ground.

d)

The dinosaur died in the ocean and sank to the bottom.

2.

Students notice a fossil of seaweed in a rock found in the middle of Georgia. What conclusion could they form based on this evidence?

a)

Part of Georgia was once under salt water.

b)

Weathering and erosion break down rocks.

c)

Trees in the forest need sunlight in order to grow.

d)

Ancient animals ate seaweed to get energy.

3.

Students layered a container with sand and soil. They added a small chicken bone between the layers. What step in the process of making fossils does this model?

a)

Plants give energy to animals.

b)

Earthquakes push fossils to the surface.

c)

Parts of a living thing are buried.

d)

Water carries minerals through soil.

4.

What can we learn from studying the fossils in a certain area?

a)

How much sunlight the area receives at noon

b)

The direction the wind used to blow in the past

c)

How much rain fell in the area last year

d)

The kinds of animals that lived there

5.

The first step in the process of how fossil are formed is _________

a)

As time passes, sediment hardens into rock, layering on top of the animal or plant part. The remains slowly fossilize in the ground becoming part of the rock.

b)

An animal dies.

c)

The animal's body or plant's leaves are covered by sediments.

d)

The soft tissues are decomposed or destroyed.

6.

The second step in the process of how fossils are formed is _______

a)

As time passes, sediment hardens into rock, layering on top of the animal or plant part. The bones or shells decay into minerals, joining the rock.

b)

An animal dies in a wet environment (such as a riverbank)

c)

The animal’s body or plant’s leaves are covered in mud. Soft tissues or organs decompose or are eaten by other living things.

d)

The hard parts are left behind. (bones, teeth, claws, beaks, etc.)

7.

__________ is the preserved remains of animals, plants, or other organisms from the past.

a)

Evidence

b)

Sequence

c)

Fossils

d)

Organisms

8.

An ____________ is a living thing such as a plant or animal.

a)

evidence

b)

sequence

c)

fossils

d)

organism

9.

What type of fossil is shown here?

a)

trace

b)

mold

c)

cast

d)

mineralization

10.

What type of fossil is shown here?

a)

carbonization/compression

b)

mold

c)

cast

d)

mineralization

11.

What type of fossil is shown here?

a)

original material

b)

mold

c)

cast

d)

mineralization

12.

What type of fossil is shown here?

a)

original material

b)

mold

c)

cast

d)

mineralization

13.

What type of fossil is shown here?

a)

original remains

b)

mold

c)

cast

d)

trace

14.

When we know the exact age of a fossil it is the _____ age.

a)

random

b)

approximate

c)

relative

d)

absolute

15.

In which kind of rock do we usually find a fossil?

a)

sedimentary rock

b)

metamorphic rock

c)

igneous rock

16.

In order for a bone to fossilize, which of the following must happen?

a)

It must get weathered and eroded.

b)

SIt must get covered by sediments.

c)

It must float in water.

17.

Where are prehistoric animals preserved as whole animals?

a)

in amber

b)

in oceans

c)

in obsidian

d)

in igneous rock

18.

A ______ is an impression made in the rock in the shape of a dead plant or animal.

a)

cast

b)

mold

c)

trace fossil

d)

amber

19.

A fossilized dinosaur footprint is a __________.

a)

cast

b)

amber

c)

trace fossil

20.

What forms when a fossil mold is filled?

a)

cast

b)

petrified fossil

c)

carbon film

d)

mold

21.

What kind of fossil is this?

a)

Mold fossil

b)

Cast fossil

c)

True Form fossil

d)

Trace fossil

22.

People who study fossils are called __________ .

a)

fossilologist

b)

paleontologist

c)

meteorologist

d)

fossil hunters

23.

A team of fossil hunters dug a hole in a desert in Peru. Today, this desert is one of the driest places on Earth. Almost no rain falls there. They found a fossil of a shark. What does this tell us about what the environment used to be?

a)

Sharks have sharp teeth

b)

The dessert is a dry place

c)

The desert used to be covered in water

d)

The shark lived in the dry desert

24.

Today, the continent of Antarctica, which surrounds Earth’s South Pole, is the coldest place on our planet. Scientists exploring an area in Antarctica called the Dry Valleys have found fossils of mosses and tiny animals. What does this finding tell us about what the environment used to be?

a)

The land was always covered in ice

b)

The Environment used to be warm enough for animals and mosses to live and survive there.

c)

The environment was covered in water.

25.

The illustration here shows the tooth of a cow and the fossilized teeth of four different animals. Based on tooth structure, which fossil tooth is from an animal that most likely ate the same things as a cow?

a)

Tooth A

b)

Tooth B

c)

Tooth C

d)

Tooth D

26.

When the entire body of a living animal is preserved in ice or amber.

a)

cast fossil

b)

mineralization fossil

c)

original material fossil

d)

mold fossil

27.

What is a fossil?

a)

dinosaur bones

b)

really old rocks

c)

the remains of ancient organisms

d)

an organisms

28.

What can we learn from fossils?

a)

How ancient organisms once lived

b)

Where an ancient organism lived

c)

What an ancient organism ate

d)

All of the above

29.

What is the minimum age required for something to be considered a fossil?

a)

Really, really old

b)

100 years old

c)

10, 000 years old

d)

5,000 years old

30.

What type of fossil is this?

a)

Mold

b)

Cast

c)

original material

d)

Trace fossil

31.

What type of fossil is this?

a)

Trace fossil

b)

Mold

c)

Cast

d)

Carbon film (carbonization)

32.

Which of the following is NOT an example of a fossil?

a)

a petrified dinosaur bone

b)

a footprint captured in mud

c)

a seashell found on the beach

d)

an insect stuck in amber

33.

Why don't we know what many ancient plants looked like?

a)

They had too many soft parts.

b)

They were all eaten by dinosaurs.

c)

There weren't ancient plants.

d)

They had too many hard parts.

34.

Lily sees a skeleton of a dinosaur at a museum. What is true about the bones that make up the skeleton?

a)

The bones are made up of minerals that replaced the bone tissues.

b)

The bones are those of the dinosaur itself.

c)

The bones were formed from mud that hardened.

d)

The bones are made up of amber.

35.
Why are there more animal fossils than plant fossils?
a)
Animals eat plants.
b)
Plants are smaller than animals.
c)
Plants have softer body parts than animals. 
d)
There were more ancient animals than ancient plants.
36.
Suppose both of these living things die on the same day.  Which one is more likely to become a fossil?  EXPLAIN your answer!
a)
The plant because it is bigger.
b)
The fish because it has more hard parts than the plant.
c)
The plant because it is green.
d)
The fish because it has gills.
37.

I found a fossil of a fish in what is now a cow pasture. What is the best explanation for how this was possible?

a)

Somebody put the fossil there.

b)

The wind moved the fossil there over time.

c)

The cow pasture used to be underwater.

d)

It would not be possible to find a fossil of a fish in a cow pasture.

38.

What part of an animal will most likely become a fossil?

a)

Muscle

b)

Eyelash

c)

tooth

d)

Ear

39.

This type of fossil would include nests, eggs, feces, and footprints.

a)

cast

b)

mold

c)

original material

d)

trace

40.
True or False...All living things that die become fossils.
a)
True
b)
False
41.
Which item below would INCREASE the chances of making a fossil?
a)
Soft body parts
b)
Buried Right Away
c)
Left Exposed
d)
Lots of Scavenger Activity
42.

When a scientist pours plaster into a mold, what type of fossil do they get?

a)

Trace Fossils

b)

original material

c)

Cast Fossil

d)

They don't call that a fossil

43.
this material does an excellent job of preserving insect remains
a)
cast
b)
amber
c)
mold
d)
carbon film
44.
On top of Mt. Everest, there are fossilized remains of sea life; this tells us that the rocks at the top of world's highest mountain 
a)
used to be above sea level
b)
used to be below sea level
c)
used to be on Mars
d)
came from an asteroid
45.

A fossilized carbon outline that forms when pressure drives off the gases and liquids from buried organism

a)

carbon film

b)

fossil

c)

trace

d)

petrified

46.

Turned into stone by the replacement of tissue with minerals

a)

alohamora

b)

winadiumiosa

c)

stupefied

d)

petrified

47.

A hollow area in sediment in the shape of an organism or part of an organism is ______________.

a)

cast

b)

mold

c)

trace fossil

d)

petrified fossil

48.

A solid copy of the shape of an organism is ____________-.

a)

mold

b)

carbon

c)

cast

d)

fossil record

49.

What type of fossil provide evidence of the activities of ancient organisms?

a)

molds and casts

b)

petrified fossils

c)

trace fossils

d)

carbon films

50.

Which of the following substances is NOT able to preserve entire organisms?

a)

sticky tar

b)

water

c)

amber

d)

ice

51.

Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by ______ that hardened into rock over time.

a)

sediment

b)

carbon

c)

extinct

d)

fossils

52.

Scientists study the ________________ to learn about the history of life, past environment on Earth, and how different groups of organisms have changed over time.

a)

sediment

b)

evolution

c)

carbon film

d)

fossil records