WorksheetsEarth's History Unit 5 SCIENCE
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 13mins
Which phrase describes the relative age of a rock?
uses the law of superposition to determine which rock is older or younger
can determine the age based on location of a rock within the same layer
requires only one rock to determine the age
can provide the exact age of a rock
After two half-lives, how much of the original material has decayed?
25 percent
50 percent
75 percent
100 percent
Which correctly lists the three isotopes that geologists measure to determine the age of an organism’s remains?
argon, nitrogen, and carbon-12
carbon-14, nitrogen, and carbon-12
nitrogen, potassium, and carbon-14
carbon-12, potassium, and argon
Which is the first step in the process during the formation of molded fossils?
Sediment hardens into rock.
Sediment is eroded from rock.
Organisms are buried under sediment.
Organisms' shapes are preserved in rock.
Which evidence suggests that several mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history?
Fossils provide information about water level and temperature.
Many fossils demonstrate that organisms have changed over time.
Fossils of the same species have been found on distant continents.
Many fossils of organisms that are no longer living have been discovered.
Which best describes eras and periods?
Eras have a smaller time span than periods.
Eras and periods are independent of each other.
Eras and periods both appear at the start of the Cambrian period.
Eras were more recently established on the time scale than periods.
Which information can be determined using half-life?
age of material
type of particle released
percentage of rock that has aged
number of radioactive particles left
For which object would a geologist use carbon-14 dating to determine age?
The bones of animals
Rocks older than 50,000 years old
Types of Sedimentary rocks
Parts of Volcanic rock
Which best explains a primary reason for the inability of life to exist in Earth’s early atmosphere?
There was insufficient energy from material collisions to change their density.
High temperatures during Precambrian time caused surface water evaporation.
Volcanic eruptions and comet collisions added different gases to the atmosphere.
Available oxygen was used to help create an ozone layer within Earth’s atmosphere.
Which feature causes a gap in the geologic record?
extrusion
fault
intrusion
erosion
How might an entire insect be preserved?
Soft and hard tissues turn the insect into rock.
Tree sap flows over the insect and hardens.
Sediment accumulates over the insect and hardens.
Carbon from the decaying insect leaves a print on a rock.
Which is one piece of information that fossils in samples from Earth’s crust reveal about Earth’s history?
changes in climate
number of species at a specific time
composition of Earth’s core
age of organisms when they died
Which correctly lists three materials that preserve soft tissues in fossils?
amber, minerals, and sediment
minerals, permafrost, and amber
permafrost, amber, and tar
sediment, minerals, and tar
Which feature forms at Earth’s surface from the cooling of lava?
extrusion
fault
intrusion
unconformity
Which type of fossils form from hardening sediment?
casts
tar pit fossils
carbon films
amber fossils
What was the significance of collisions of dust, rock, and ice during Earth’s formation?
to modify the density of materials present on Earth
to facilitate heat absorption from the surrounding space
to blow away a strong burst of particles from the first atmosphere
to harden materials to form different parts of Earth’s layers
Which statement explains how determining the age of the remains of living things is similar to dating rocks?
Organisms and rocks both contain stable and unstable elements.
Organisms contain the same unstable elements as those found in rocks.
Elements in rocks decay at the same rate as elements in the remains of organisms.
Rocks and organisms both have gases trapped inside that are measured to determine age.
How are casts formed by decaying organisms?
Organisms turn into rock over time.
Organisms leave carbon residue on a rock.
Organisms leave impressions in sediment that hardens into rock.
Impressions left by organisms are filled in with sediment that hardens into rock.
Which feature do amber fossils have that mold fossils do not?
preserved soft tissue
organisms turned into rock
solid copies of the original organism
impressions of hard tissue left by organisms
A geologist finds some tilted sedimentary rock layers. Which conclusion can the geologist draw by looking at the rock layers?
Their absolute age is 600 million years.
They were tilted before they were deposited.
They were originally deposited horizontally.
The youngest layer was originally deposited as the bottom layer.
How do organisms form carbon films?
Organisms turn into rock.
Residue is left on rocks when organisms decay.
Hollow forms are left in sediment by decaying organisms.
Organisms leave evidence of their activities, such as footprints.
The image shows cross-cutting relationships. B, W, E, and K represent rock layers, and Q represents a fault.
Which statement describes the geologic features?
Layer K is the oldest.
Layer W is the youngest.
Fault Q occurred before layer K was deposited.
Layers B, W, and E were deposited after fault Q occurred.
Study the diagram of the geologic time scale.
Which method is most likely used to identify what happened before the start of the Paleozoic era?
Scientists study fossils from the Jurassic period.
Scientists observe index fossil records of the Mesozoic era.
Scientists examine fossil evidence during the Precambrian time.
Scientists explore the emergence of mammals and humans in the Cenozoic era.
The image shows flat sedimentary rock layers in the foreground and angled sedimentary rock layers in the background.
According to the principle of original horizontality, what most likely happened to the rock layers in the background?
They cracked at an angle.
They were deposited at an angle.
They were deposited vertically and then shifted by a geologic event.
They were deposited horizontally and then shifted by a geologic event.
Which is the correct formula for calculating the age of a meteorite if using half-life?
Age of object = n/ t1/2
Age of object = n × t1/2
Age of object = t1/2 / n
Age of object = n + t1/2
