WorksheetsUnit Test: Earth's History
Total questions: 35
Worksheet time: 18mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
Where do scientists collect ice cores from?
a)
the ocean
b)
polar ice caps
c)
mountainous areas
d)
frozen lakes
2.
The light colored rings in a tree cross section represent growth during:
a)
the spring
b)
the summer
c)
the fall
d)
the winter
3.
What does a tree ring represent?
a)
The growth of a tree during its last year of life.
b)
The growth of a tree during its first year of life.
c)
The weather during the past year.
d)
The growth of a tree during a growing season.
4.
What is an index fossil?
a)
A fossil that helps scientists find other fossils.
b)
A fossil that is from the ocean.
c)
A fossil with an unknown time from when it was on earth.
d)
A fossil that helps scientists date unknown fossils.
5.
Radioactive decay refers to:
a)
The formation of additional stable material.
b)
The destruction of unstable Carbon. 14
c)
The creation of new radioactive Carbon 14.
d)
The breakdown of radioactive Carbon 14.
6.
What is a half life?
a)
The age of a radioactive sample, divided by two.
b)
The time it takes for half of a radioactive sample to decay to a stable product.
c)
The time it takes a radioactive sample to fully decay to a stable product.
d)
The age of a fossil divided by two.
7.
What is the Law of Superposition?
a)
Rock layers form on top of each other so the oldest layer of rock is found furthest away from the surface.
b)
Rock layers form on top of each other so the oldest layer of rock is found closest to the surface.
c)
Magma seeps up from the Earth's interior, so it forms younger rock.
d)
Faults create fractures in the Earths' rock layers.
8.
What is Relative Dating?
a)
A method to determine the comparative age of a fossil or rock layer, using its position among other rock layers.
b)
A method of determining the actual age of fossils.
c)
A method of determining the actual age of rocks.
d)
A method of determining what led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
9.
An igneous intrusion is:
a)
The same age as the rock it cuts through.
b)
Younger than the rock it cuts through.
c)
Made of sedimentary rock.
d)
Older than the rock it cuts through.
10.
Fossils are found in which type of rock layer?
a)
Metamorphic Rock
b)
Sedimentary Rock
c)
Igneous Rock
d)
Conglomerate Rock
11.
The largest time unit used in the geologic time scale is:
a)
Eon
b)
Era
c)
Period
d)
Epoch
12.
Approximately how long ago did Earth form?
a)
460 years ago
b)
460,000 years ago
c)
4.6 million years ago
d)
4.6 billion years ago
13.
What were the earliest life forms on Earth?
a)
Flowering Plants
b)
Photosynthesizing bacteria
c)
Single-celled anaerobic microbes
d)
Simple, multicellular organisms
14.
Which of the these is a possible limitation of using tree rings to learn about the past climate?
a)
Tree rings are always the same size.
b)
Trees can be affected by diseases.
c)
A poor growing season has no effect on a tree's growth.
d)
All of the above.
15.
How would you describe Earth 4 billion years ago?
a)
Entirely covered by water
b)
Covered by molten rock
c)
Dominated by ferns
d)
Had only one-celled organisms
16.
In an ice core, in what season does the melt layer form?
a)
Fall
b)
Winter
c)
Spring
d)
Summer
17.
What life forms were responsible for introducing oxygen into Earth’s atmosphere?
a)
ferns
b)
anaerobic microbes
c)
the first trees
d)
cyanobacteria
18.
What most likely caused the death of the dinosaurs?
a)
an asteroid impact
b)
volcanic activity
c)
an ice age
d)
humans
19.
Complete the statement. Fossils found in deeper layers of rock are ______than fossils found in shallower layers of rock.
a)
smaller
b)
larger
c)
younger
d)
older
20.
What type of fossil gives us the most information about a once-living organism?
a)
A cast fossil
b)
A true fossil
c)
A molten fossil
d)
A petrified fossil
21.
How was the Heavy Bombardment important to Earth’s formation?
a)
It caused mountains to form.
b)
It caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
c)
It provided oxygen.
d)
It provided water.
22.
How many eras are found in the Phanerozoic eon?
a)
3
b)
4
c)
10
d)
12
23.
An index fossil is:
a)
Found only during a limited time frame.
b)
Found in only a few places on Earth.
c)
Always a dinosaur fossil.
d)
From an unknown time period.
24.
Mass extinctions can be caused by:
a)
a natural disaster
b)
climate change
c)
competition (with a new species)
d)
All of the above
25.
What type of fossil shows evidence of biologic activity?
a)
True fossil
b)
Trace fossil
c)
Cast fossil
d)
Mold fossil
26.
How has the emergence of life changed in terms of size and complexity over the past 550 million years compared to the first billion years of Earth's history?
4 lines
27.
What can wide tree rings tell you about the past climate?
4 lines
28.
The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. How much of a 12 gram sample WILL DECAY after 11,460 years?
4 lines
29.
Refer to the image below. Put the layers of the Earth in order from oldest to youngest. (List the numbers)
4 lines
30.
Use the Index Fossil table below. An unknown fossil is found with a Turritella and a Scaphite. Is this possible? If so, what time period did the unknown fossil live?
4 lines
31.
Use the Index Fossil table below. An unknown fossil is found with an ammonite and a brachiopod. Is this possible? If so, what time period did the unknown fossil live?
4 lines
32.
What is a mass extinction?
4 lines
33.
What does dust trapped in an ice core layer represent?
4 lines
34.
How do fossils form?
4 lines
35.
How do scientists determine the number and length of time units in the geologic time scale?
4 lines
100 %
