Font size
WorksheetsEarth's Organisms
Total questions: 24
Worksheet time: 10mins
Why do some organisms never turn into fossils?
They are far too large to be buried in the ground.
They are made mostly of soft tissues.
They contain too much protein to be preserved.
They contain chemicals that prevent the hardening of their bodies.
Which of these can lead to the extinction of a species?
Loss of habitat
Small temperature changes
Increase in food supply
Decrease in available light
What is the relative age of a rock?
Its age compared with the ages of other rocks
Less than the age of the fossils the rock contains
The number of years since the rock formed
Its age based on how much carbon-14 the rock contains
Why do geologists use radioactive dating?
To determine the relative ages of rock layers
To tell the difference between molds and casts
To tell where on soil horizon ends and the next one begins
To determine the absolute ages of rocks
What is the difference between relative age and absolute age?
What can be said about the many new life forms that evolved during the Cambrian Explosion that began the Paleozoic Era?
They lived on land.
They were invertebrates that lived in the sea.
They were vertebrates covered with scales or fur.
They were single-celled.
Earth's earliest atmosphere lacked which gas that is necessary for life as we know it to exist today?
Nitrogen
Carbon Dioxide
Argon
Oxygen
During the Paleozoic, what were the first organisms to live partly on land?
Insects
Reptiles
Amphibians
Invertebrates
Late in the Paleozoic Era, the supercontinent Pangaea formed. What was the probable climate in the Pangaea?
Extremely cold, polar climate
Hot, dry desert climate
Wet tropical climate
Warm, mild climate
Which best describes the climates of Europe and North America during the 1.8 million years of the Quatemary Period?
Hot and dry climates
Cool and rainy periods followed by droughts
Warm and mild climates
A series of ice ages followed by periods when the glaciers melted
When the dinosaurs became extinct, which types of organisms were able to evolve more and flourish?
Birds
Mammals
Fish
Amphibians
Which statement supports the law of superposition?
Rock layers at the bottom of an undisturbed formation are always the oldest.
Fossils found in deep rock layers will be younger than those in higher up ones.
No matter the position of a rock layer, it will have the same relative age as others.
The amount of carbon found in deep rocks layers will be less than that found at the surface.
Use the illustration to answer the question. How do the rock layers shown in this illustration compare?
Layer B and Layer D are exactly the same age.
Layer F is older than layer C.
Layer A was formed before Layer G.
Layer C is older than Layer B.
Use the illustration to answer the question. A fossil was found in layer C. In which other layer would similar fossils be expected to be found?
Layer F
Layer D
Layer B
Layer A
Which environmental condition MOST likely existed at the time a fossil formed?
Organism remains were deposited in an area of open space.
Organism remains were buried with little oxygen.
Organism remains were covered by lava flow.
Organism remains were buried in an area where a lot of erosion occurred.
A paleontologist was developing a model of Earth's time periods from fossils that were found in different rock layers. He found fossils of dinosaurs in one of the rock layers he was studying.
During which time period did the animals whose fossils were found in this rock layer most likely live?
Mesozoic Era
Cenozoic Era
PreCambrian Time
Paleozoic Era
A student was developing a model to organize Earth's history.
Which of the following would be the best suggestion to help this student further develop this model?
Further divide each era into several periods using evidence from fossils and rock layers.
Further divide each era into several eons using evidence from fossils and rock layers.
Further divide each epoch into several eras using evidence from fossils and rock layers.
What was the name of the super-continent at the beginning of the Mesozoic era?
Rhodinia
Laurencia
Nebraska
Pangaea
The geologic time scale is subdivided into ______ and _______.
(a)
What period of geologic time are we in right now, and how do you know?
Most fossils form when living things die and are buried by (a) that hardens rock overtime.
What type of fossils provide evidence of the activities of ancient organisms?
Molds and casts
Petrified fossils
Trace fossils
Carbon films
A time period referred to as the Cambrian Explosion occurred between 530 million and 570 million years ago. Many of the complex organisms on Earth today are thought to have evolved from much simpler organisms that lived during this time period. However, physical evidence that can be used to support this claim is rare and difficult to find.
Which statement best explains this phenomenon?
The organisms that lived during the Cambrian Explosion were relatively small animals.
Relatively few fossils exist because they were consumed by larger organisms later in geologic time.
The organisms that lived during the Cambrian Explosion were composed mainly of liquids and gases.
Relatively few organisms were fossilized because of the complex sequence of events required to form fossils.
A student builds a stack of different layers of clay and places two marbles in one of the layers of clay. Using this model, which concept can the student best communicate about the marbles?
The marbles represent organisms of the same species that died
The marbles represent different fossils that are about the same age.
The marbles represent organisms that became extinct at different times.
The marbles represent rocks that became fossils at about the same time.
