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WorksheetsUnit 6 Science Test Fossils
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 13mins
Janice found a rock and used a hammer to split it open. One half of the rock had a raised shape of a shell. The other had an impression of the shell. What type of fossil did Janice find?
a mold and a cast of a shell
a shell frozen in rock
a shell preserved in amber
a trace fossil of a seashell
What type of rock are most fossils found in?
Igneous rocks
sedimentary rock
metamorphic rock
sand
Which type of fossils would closely resemble how an organism looked like in life?
carbon film
trace fossil
mold
cast
The Green River Formation in Wyoming is made of layers of rock that contain fabulous fish fossils. What most likely occurred to allow the fish to be preserved so well?
The fish got buried in sediment.
Animals ate the fish so the bones were clean and ready to turn to fossils.
The fish moved along until it landed in a safe quiet place.
The temperature increased until conditions were right to form fossils.
Which of the following is not an example of some environmental changes that lead to the extinction of organisms?
climate change
solar ellipse
natural disasters
deforestation
The woolly mammoth lived in a very cold, snowy environment. What of the following might not be a use for its large tusk?
for protection
to scrape ice and snow off vegetation
to attract a mate
What may have caused 75% of Earth's organisms to become extinct approximately 65 million years ago?
glaciers
disease
a meteorite impact
the temperature became too warm
What is a mass extinction?
one species evolves into another similar species
all members of the same species die pout unexpectedly
large numbers of certain species become extinct overnight
many species become extinct over a short period of geologic time
Joanie brought home several different seashells from the beach. Which one is a fossil?
a clam that died on the way home
a rock with an imprint of a seashell
a clump of seashells stuck together
two seashell halves that fit together
Which extinct organism is most closely related to today's sharks?
ammonite
trilobite
megalodon
mammoth
What is the most likely reason the saber-toothed cat became extinct?
The temperature became too cold
Saber-toothed cats were hunted by other animals.
The area in which they lived became an ocean.
Animals they depended upon for food became extinct.
What is a scientist who studies fossils called?
a biologist
a botanist
a paleontologist
a physicist
Fish live in many different environments suchs as lakes, ponds, and oceans. Which is one feature in fish that has changed greatly over time?
scales
bones
eyes
jaws
Which of the following fossils would make a good index fossil?
a snailt that lived in Ohio, in a small population during the Cenozoic
a trilobite that lived in all areas east of the Mississippi River, in large populations during the the end of the Paleozoic
a tree fern that lived in northeastern Pennsylvania, in a small population during the Mesozoic
a magnolia flower that lived in the eastern United States, in large populations during the Cenozoic
What can the presence of fossils tell us?
Oceans once covered what is now dry land.
Forests once covered what are now deserts.
Glaciers once covered much of North America.
All of the above.
What have scientists determined about woolly mammoths?
The more fur on their body, the older they were.
They were able to live in the very cold climates of the ice age.
Their fur helped block spears from hunters.
The fur made their bodies too warm and caused them to become extinct.
How can you demonstrate relative dating using a stack of newspapers?
by identifying the age of each paper by the date listed at the top of each one
by noting the dates of the top and bottom
by describing the placement of the paper within the stack.
by comparing the stack of papers to a stack of different newspaper
What does the fossil record refer to?
the fossils in the rock layers on Earth
the fossils in a layer being studied
an encyclopedia of fossil photos
a recording of fossil names
After examining the rock layers in one place, your class hiked a mile away and looked at another set of rock layers. How can you determine if these rock layers are the same age as those at the first location?
by picking random fossils and comparing them to those at the first location
by comparing the rock types from both locations to see if they are the same
by trying to match all of your rocks and fossils with those at the first location
by using a fossil guidebook to identify the fossils and then matching them to the layers.
Fossils of Mesosaurus are found in South America and Africa. What does this suggest?
that Mesosaurus lived in the ocean
that Mesosaurus ate the plant Glossopteris
that Mesosauruscans be used as an index fossil
that these two continents were once connected
Todd's school was having an addition built on. Once the ground was dug up, his teacher brought his class out to examine the rock layers exposed in the ground. They were able to see fossils such as coral, clams, and fish. What did this tell them about the environment many years ago.
Desert sand covered this area.
There was a forest in this area.
The environment was cold and icy.
An ocean once covered the area.
Which could result in a mass extinction?
heavy thunderstorms
no rain for long periods of time
alternating dry and wet seasons
rainy seasons followed by short periods of dry weather
Jeffery visited the La Brea tar pits in California with his family. He learned that the plants that lived in the area 40,000 years ago were not much different from those that live in and around Los Angeles today. What does this information tell scientist?
None of the plants has changed since that time.
The animals that lived then are the same now.
The climate is not much different from what is was back then.
Yearly rainfall has increased steadily.
Sharon is studying some rock layers near her home. She uses the terms Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic to name them in order of their age. What are all these terms part of?
the world calendar
Earth's history
the geologic time scale
the fossil record
Scientists know that the continents have moved across Earth's surface throughout history. What is the name of the idea that first describes the movement of continents?
plate tectonics
continental drift
continent movement
landform change
