Something that you notice using any of your five senses.

Something you figure out based on observations and information you already know.

A clue about the life from the past that is preserved in rock.

Something scientists make to answer questions about the real world.

Small pieces of rock such as sand or silt.

A type of rock formed from sediment and cements over time.

To press together

To stick together in the process of forming rock.

A thick sheet of rock formed from the same material.

All the living and non-living things in an area.

Staying mostly the same.

A fossil forms when a(n) __________ dies and is covered in sediment.

A sedimentary rock layer forms when sediment _______ and builds up in water, _________ under more sediment and _________ over time.

Over time, a rock layer becomes _______ as sediment continues to build up.

Geologists use observations of and ideas about rocks and fossils to make ________ about past environments.

Different sediments build up in different environments. Therefore, _______ kinds of sedimentary rock form in different environments.

New rock layers form on top of existing rock layers. Therefore, lower rock layers are _______ than the layers above them. This means that the environments that lower rock layers formed in came __________.

Geologists observe the order of rock layers to _______ the order of past environments.