WorksheetsFossil Practice
Total questions: 10
Worksheet time: 5mins
Fossils are evidence of living things that were alive many, many years ago and often consist of the skeletons of creatures imbedded in rock. Why don’t fossils contain the animal’s soft tissues, as well?
Because the soft tissues decayed before the fossil could be formed
Because the rock breaks down soft tissues.
Because the soft tissues were always eaten by scavengers.
Because the rock always smashed the soft tissues flat.
Fossils similar to marine life found in the oceans today have been found in rocks on top of mountains. How can this be explained?
The marine life can live on land or sea.
Marine organisms were once able to breathe air.
The rocks in which the fossils were found were formed under an ocean.
Marine organisms have evolved from land organisms.
Which BEST describes the movement of the plates that make up Earth's surface over millions of years?
They moved for millions of years but now have stopped.
They stayed the same for millions of years but are now moving.
They have been continually moving.
They have never moved.
As a scientist was hiking up a mountain, she found fossils of seashells in some of the rocks. Which is a reasonable conclusion she can make?
The rocks were formed when molten lava was cooled.
Shelled sea organisms once inhabited forested mountains.
The rocks were formed in an ocean and later uplifted when the mountain was formed.
The fossil seashells were carried up from an ocean and embedded in the rocks by strong winds.
Which of the following would cause a long-term (lasting thousands of years) change to Earth?
Spring flooding along the Saint John River
A hurricane coming north from the banks of the Carolinas
A volcano erupting such as Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines
Tornadoes spawned from cold and warm air clashing
The best evidence that two land areas were once connected is the discovery that both land masses
Have the same climate.
Are in the same stage of succession.
Exist along the same line of longitude.
Have similar types of rocks and fossils.
Fossils of the fern Glossopteris have been found in Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and South America. How do scientists explain this observation?
The wind blew the seeds across the oceans from continent to continent.
The fern developed independently on each continent.
The continents were at one time joined together and then moved apart.
The fern had adaptations to survive the different environments of the continents.
The picture shows a fifty-two-million-year-old palm leaf fossil from a palm tree that was found in Wyoming. Palm trees with leaves similar to this fossil can be found living in tropical climates in the present day.
Which of these best explains why a palm leaf fossil was found in Wyoming?
A leaf from a palm tree was carried to the area by the wind.
The climate in the area was much warmer fifty-two million years ago.
Seeds from a palm tree were carried to the area by migrating animals.
The palm trees in the area were adapted to a much colder climate fifty-two million years ago.
Identical fossil species were found along the western coast of Africa and the eastern coast of South America. Which of these BEST describes a conclusion that is supported by this evidence?
Mammals first evolved in Africa and South America.
Africa and South America were once a single landmass.
Animals crossed the Atlantic Ocean to reach South America from Africa.
The first human civilizations started in Africa and moved to South America.
Limestone can be found at the top of the Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world. Limestone is a rock that usually forms at the bottom of shallow, warm waters. What argument can be made to explain why limestone can be found on top of a mountain?
Based on fossil evidence, scientists can prove that Earth has changed over time. Mountains have moved from one place to another.
Based on fossil evidence, scientists can prove that Earth has changed over time. Areas of land that had once been covered in water are now mountains.
Using GPS data, scientists can determine that convergent plate boundaries have pushed limestone from the ocean floor to the top of mountains.
Using GPS data, scientists can determine that divergent plate boundaries have pulled limestone from the ocean floor to the top of mountains.
