WorksheetsFossils 3rd gr
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 25mins
No one has ever seen a living dinosaur. Paleontologists must make predictions about what dinosaurs were like based on the fossilized bones that they find. Why might a paleontologist think that the dinosaur in the photo lived on land?
It has body structures that are similar to living animals that are found in the ocean.
Its fossils were found in the same rock layer as a kind of fish.
Its fossils were found in a rock layer on the bottom of the ocean.
It has body structures that are similar to living animals that are found on land.
How might a scientist learn about organisms, such as dinosaurs, that are no longer alive today?
by studying fossils
by reading old stories
by using their imagination
by studying modern humans
Sea lilies are animals that live in salt water. The picture below is of a sea lily fossil. Sea lily fossils have been found throughout Michigan. What best explains why these fossils have been found in Michigan?
The Great Lakes in Michigan currently contain salt water.
Sea lilies lived on glaciers and were left behind when the ice melted.
Michigan was once covered in salt water.
Sea lilies lived on land and moved into the ocean.
The picture above shows a copy of a skeleton. The skeleton came from an extinct animal called the pygmy mammoth. What would be the best way to describe the pygmy mammoth? *
The pygmy mammoth was similar to birds and lived in trees.
The pygmy mammoth was similar to elephants and lived on land.
The pygmy mammoth was similar to alligators and lived in rivers.
The pygmy mammoth was similar to sharks and lived in the ocean.
A scientist finds a fossil of a fern near a fossil of a small mammal. Which of the following is likely true about the organisms that made the fossils?
They are the same kind of organism.
They lived in different countries.
They were alive during the same time period.
They had nothing in common with each other.
Trilobites are extinct organisms that once lived in saltwater environments. Trilobite fossils have been found in many desert areas of the United States. What does finding a trilobite fossil in a desert show about the desert?
The sea level has slowly risen over time in the desert.
The temperature of the desert was once cold.
The desert was once covered in water.
The desert was once covered in mountains.
Coral colonies are usually found in shallow, salt water in areas where sunlight can easily reach them. In current times, Michigan is mostly dry land with several large, freshwater lakes. What does finding coral fossils in Michigan most likely show?
Coral used to be a freshwater organism.
Coral has changed to become a freshwater organism.
Michigan once had areas of salt water.
Michigan once had a warm, tropical climate.
Plants lived on Earth millions of years ago. How is this known?
Some of the plants were preserved as fossils.
Everything alive today has been alive since the beginning of time.
Stories about them have been passed down from parent to child.
They can be seen in photos that were taken long ago.
Three rock layers from the same area are shown above. Which rock layer formed when the area was covered in ocean water?
What kind of fossil is made when bones, shells, or teeth turn to stone?
trace fossil
seed fossil
cast fossil
preserved part fossil
Scientists found the fossil remains above in a valley during a fossil dig. They identified the organism as a plesiosaur, which was a very large reptile with a long neck and fins. What type of environment likely used to exist where the valley is now located?
mountain
ocean
rainforest
grassland
A bird dies and becomes buried in the mud on a beach. After millions of years, the bird may
come back to life.
become a plant.
turn into an insect.
become a fossil.
In which of the following present day locations could the fossils of a dinosaur that lived in water be found?
under a lake
near a mountain
in a canyon
all of these
What can scientists learn by studying fossils?
II only
I and IV only
I, II, and III
I, II, III, and IV
The picture above on the left is a fern, which grows best in a moist environment. The picture above on the right is a fossil from New Mexico that is about 200 million years old. Today, most of New Mexico is a very hot, dry place.Based on the fossil, which of these is most likely true about the environment in New Mexico 200 million years ago?
It was under water.
It was moist.
It was very much the same as it is today.
It was a desert.
Look at the fossil in the picture above. Scientists believe that this fossilized organism lived in an ocean environment. Which of the following most likely explains why?
The fossil has the same lifespan as animals that live in the ocean today.
The fossil looks much like some of the organisms that live in the ocean today.
The fossil has structures that would be useful for swimming in the water.
The fossil eats the same food as animals that live in the ocean today.
Mammoths are big elephant-like animals that lived a long time ago. They liked cold weather, but their fossils have been found in Florida where it is hot. What does this show about Florida?
Florida was once completely underwater.
Florida was once much colder.
Florida was once a desert.
Florida was once a tropical rainforest.
A shark is known to have lived only in the ocean. What would it likely mean if the shark tooth fossil had been found in the Rocky Mountains?
that the wind had blown the fossil into the mountains
that the Rocky Mountain area used to be a desert
that the rocks in the mountains had once been under water
that the ocean used to be a desert
The picture shows a fossil made by a leaf. The leaf made a mold in mud, then rotted away. Minerals and mud then filled in the mold and made the fossil. The leaf fossil is a _______.
preserved part
cavity
bone
cast
The fossil above looks much like modern day fish. Which of the following environments did this organism most likely live in?
a body of water
a tropical rainforest
a cold, snowy mountain
a hot, dry desert
The picture shows a rock that has a cavity or space that is shaped like an animal that used to be alive. The cavity in the rock is a kind of fossil called a _______.
decomposer
preserved part
cast
mold
Andrew looked at the fossil above in a museum. The fossil was found in the desert. What detail about the fossil would show that the desert used to be a forest?
A. The fossil shows a lizard that lived in the desert.
The fossil shows leaves from an oak tree.
The fossil is brown, rounded, and 6 feet tall.
The fossil doesn't show any fish or marine plants.
This picture shows a fossil of an extinct animal. What kind of ecosystem did this animal probably live in?
a snowy mountaintop
a freshwater lake
desert soil
tropical treetops
Woolly mammoths were large prehistoric animals that lived in very cold areas, known as tundras. If fossils of many woolly mammoths were found in an area that is now a warm desert, what is likely true of that area?
The area was home to all prehistoric animals.
The area was once very cold.
The area was once a large ocean.
The area has always been a warm desert.
The picture above on the left is a fossil of a leaf from a sweetgum tree. The fossil was found in Wyoming and is about 40 million years old. The picture on the right is a leaf from a sweetgum tree living today. Sweetgum trees grow in about half of the United States. They grow in places that are not too dry and not too cold. They do not grow in Wyoming, which is dry and very cold in the winter. Based on the fossil, which of these is most likely true about the environment in Wyoming 40 million years ago?
It was on a the coast of an ocean.
It was warmer and wetter than it is now.
It was under water.
It was colder and drier than it is now.
