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WorksheetsScience fossils
Total questions: 80
Worksheet time: 1hrs 4mins
Describes a group of living things that are no longer living.
fossil
extinct
endangered
dinosaur
The hardened remains of a living thing that died long ago.
fossil
extinct
endangered
minerals
Why are there more animal fossils than plant fossils?
Animals are smaller than plants.
Plants have harder bodies than animals.
Plans have softer bodies than animals.
Animals eat plants.
Which type of fossil would look just like the body part of a once-living thing?
mineral
footprint
cast
petrified wood
Which is an imprint fossil?
bone
a cast
an animal track
amber fossil
Which type of rock are most fossils found?
sedimentary rock
metamorphic rock
igneous rock
fossils
An animal has sharp, pointy teeth, what can we infer about this animal?
The animal lived in the water
The animal lived near the beach.
The animal is a carnivore.
The animal only ate plants.
If a scientist found a fish fossil in the desert, what can they infer?
An animal ate the fish.
The water covered the area long ago.
Today's fish looks the same
The fish is endangered.
How are an elephant and a mammoth alike?
They are both endangered.
They are both extinct.
They both have tusks.
They both live in a warm climate.
What statement is true about fossils?
All living organisms leave behind fossils.
Fossils show that camels never change.
Some living things have not really changed in millions of years.
Plant fossils have never changed.
What needs to happen FIRST for a fossil to form?
A plant or animal must be covered by sediment.
A plant or animal must die and decompose.
Sediments fill a a mold to form a cast.
An earthquake shifts the land up.
Which of these animals is extinct?
Camel
Rhino
Red Panda
Saber-toothed cat
What replaces the wood of a once-living thing to form petrified wood?
amber
cast
mold
minerals
Why are there a lot of fern fossils?
Ferns are hard like bones.
Ferns have changed little over time.
Ferns were larger than all plants.
Most animals ate ferns.
How can you make a mold of an ancient seashell?
Press the seashell in model clay.
Draw the seashell
Press the seashell in model clay to make a mold then fill it in.
Trace the seashell
This type of fossil is tree sap hardened and replaced by minerals.
Petrified wood
Imprint
Amber
Mold
Turtles look much like they did millions of years ago. What can we infer about turtle fossils?
They did not change over time.
The turtle survived the ice age.
Turtles went extinct.
Turtles were never endangered.
What can we infer about animals with dull teeth?
They ate other animals.
They ate only plants.
They ate nothing.
They only ate fish.
________ is when you step in something and leave a footprint
imprinting
trace fossil
fossil
Rocks, sand, mud, and other soils are called
amber
mold/case
sediments
Making imprints of objects in clay is most useful for learning about _____________________.
weathering
fossils
renewable resources
the rock cycle
Making imprints of objects in clay is most useful for learning about _____________________.
weathering
fossils
renewable resources
the rock cycle
You find a dinosaur footprint in a rock near your house. What is the BEST conclusion you can draw from this footprint about what happened many years ago?
dinosaurs changed and adapted over time
a meteor hit where you live
dinosaurs once loved where you live
dinosaurs were reptiles
What happens to MOST dead plants and animals?
sediment buries them
they become fossils
they quickly rot or get eaten
they turn into water
What can scientists most easily tell from a set of footprints that have become fossils?
what the animal ate
how many babies the animal had
what kind of enemies the animal had
how the animal moved
What needs to happen for a bone to become a fossil?
it must be buried
it must rot
it must be eaten
it must be crushed
A scientist finds shell fossils in a rock in the desert. What conclusion can the scientist make?
Millions of years ago, the desert was an ocean.
Millions of years ago, the desert was covered by ice.
Millions of years ago, the desert was a rainforest.
Millions of years ago, the desert was the top of a mountain.
Scientists know that dinosaurs actually lived because ____________________________.
people who have seen them told the scientists
they have seen the dinosaurs
they have found fossils of dinosaurs
some animals alive today look like dinosaurs
What can scientists learn about a particular dinosaur from studying its fossilized teeth?
how big it was
what its skin looked like
what kind of food it ate
how fast it would run
What is a fossil?
fossils are the preserved remains of plants or animals that lived long ago
fossils are decayed remains of plants or animals
fossils are imprints of leaves found in the mud
fossils are humus found in soil
Fossils can be found in:
hardened tree sap
sedimentary rock
they can be petrified
all of the above
Scientist who studies fossils is called:
doctors
meteorologists
paleontologists
geologists
Two fossils are found in a cold mountain region. One is a fish fossil and the other is a palm tree fossil. What can you infer about the environment in which these organisms lived?
A warm ocean environment because fish are found in areas with water and palm trees are found in warm ocean environments.
A cold mountain region because an environment cannot change its type of environment over time.
A warm mountain region because since there are palm trees, the area needs to be warm.
A hot desert because palm trees are found in hot areas.
A third grader is tasked to create a model to show how a fossil is formed. What needs to happen first and why?
The first step is that an animal dies because once any living thing dies, it will always start the fossilization process
The first step is that an animal dies because once a living thing dies, it has the possibility of becoming a fossil.
The first step is that the animal is buried by sediment because if it is buried by sediment, it will then die to become a fossil.
The first step is that bone is slowly replaced with minerals because if they are replaced by minerals, then once it dies, it starts to fossilize.
A group of friends were hiking to the top of a mountain. When they got to the top of the mountain, they discovered several fossils of animals like the one pictured above.
What clues does the fossil give you about how the animal moved and what type of habitat it lived in?
This animal lived at the bottom of the mountain since it was discovered at the mountain, but the mountain rose in height over time
This animal lived at the top of a mountain since that is the location it was discovered
This animal lived in a water environment such as a lake or ocean since it has bones.
This animal lived in a water environment since it has dorsal fins.
A student is observing two fossils found in a warm wooded region. One fossil is of an animal and one of a plant. Both of these fossils appear to have the same characteristic that they retain water. What can you infer about the environment in which these organisms lived?
The fossils are of organisms that once lived in an ocean because they need water in order to survive.
The fossils are of organisms that once lived in a desert since these organisms are able to live where there is limited water.
The fossils are of organisms that once lived on the coast next to the ocean because they lived on land, but need access to the ocean.
The fossils are of organisms that once lived in a wooded area because there are a lot of types of plants and animals found in this region.
_______________is a scientist who studies fossils.
geologist
fossilologist
paleontologist
extinct
The remains of an organism studied by scientists is called a ____________.
paleontologist
fossil
dinosaur
shark
When something is _____________________ it no longer
exists.
extinct
preserved
endangered
rotting
Which is NOT a reason scientists study fossils?
They tell us how long a species existed on Earth.
To learn how organisms are related to each other.
How organisms communicated with each other.
Fossils tell scientists the types of environments that organisms lived in.
Which would be an example of a fossil?
Sedimentary Rock
Dinosaur Footprint
Oyster Pearl
Rotting Log
Which rock type would be best to find fossils?
Igneous Rock
Sedimentary Rock
Metamorphic Rock
Which type of fossil is created when an organism gets trapped in tree resin?
Trace
Mold/Imprint
Amber
Cast
Which is NOT a way an organism could become a fossil?
It can be frozen in ice.
It can be quickly buried in sediment after death.
It can be trapped in the resin of a tree.
It can be left out in the sun to decompose.
An organism should be buried quickly after it dies if it has a chance of becoming a fossil
True
False
How do scientists learn about dinosaurs?
by studying fossils
by reading about them
by watching movies
by looking at pictures
Which is NOT a step in the process an organism goes through to become a fossil?
Layers of sediment build up on the buried body.
A organism dies and is buried quickly.
Minerals fill the spaces of the decaying bone.
An organism becomes extinct.
Fossils can tell us how organisms communicated with each other.
True
False
Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by _______________ that hardens into rock over time.
sediment
people
cement
ants
What type of fossils provide evidence of the activities of ancient organisms?
molds and casts
petrified fossils
trace fossils
carbon films
An organism is ______________ if it no longer exits and will never live again on Earth.
rare
extinct
plentiful
missing
A ______________________ is a scientist who studies fossils.
biologist
chemist
paleontologist
astronomer
Which of the following substances is not able to preserve entire organisms?
sticky tar
water
amber
ice
Scientist study the ____________________ to learn about the history of life, past environments on Earth, and how different groups of organisms have changed over time.
fossil record
animal record
historical record
Earth record
Where can the oldest layer be found?
The top layer
The middle layer
They are all the same age
The bottom layer
Which layer formed first?
Rock Layer W
Rock Layer X
Rock Layer Y
Rock Layer Z
Which animal part would most likely form a fossil?
Muscle
Fur
Lung
Bone
The remains of an organism studied by scientists is called a ____________.
paleontologist
fossil
dinosaur
shark
Which would be an example of a fossil?
Sedimentary Rock
Dinosaur Footprint
Oyster Pearl
Rotting Log
Which type of fossil is created when an organism gets trapped in tree resin?
Trace
Mold/Imprint
Amber
Cast
Which is NOT a way an organism could become a fossil?
It can be frozen in ice.
It can be quickly buried in sediment after death.
It can be trapped in the resin of a tree.
It can be left out in the sun to decompose.
An organism should be buried quickly after it dies if it has a chance of becoming a fossil
True
False
How do scientists learn about dinosaurs?
by studying fossils
by reading about them
by watching movies
by visiting Jurassic Park
What conclusions could you make about the environment where the animal that made this fossil lived in?
It was under water because it has fins.
It might have been a grassland because it has 4 legs.
It could fly and live in trees because it has wings.
What is a good rule to follow when determining the age of rock layers?
The oldest is always on the top.
The rock layers get older as you dig deeper.
The youngest is always on the bottom.
