fossil practice

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Name:__________________________ Fossils: Practice what you know 1. What is a fossil? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. What is Relative Dating? ……………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….………………. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3. What is an Index Fossil? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4. To be useful as an index fossil , a species must have existed for a a. long period over a wide geographic range. b. long period over a small geographic range. c. short period over a wide geographic range. d. short period over a small geographic range. 5. While looking for fossils on an eroded hillside, you discover fossil coral and fish in one layer. In a layer just above, you find the fossil imprint of a fern frond and some fossil moss. Assuming the rock has not been disturbed, which of the following is the most probable conclusion? a. The area had been a sea until recent times. b. A forest had once grown there but had become submerged by water. c. A sea had been replaced by land in ancient times. d. A saltwater sea had changed to a freshwater lake in ancient times. 6. Based on the fossil record shown in this figure, explain what has happened to the type of habitat found in the area as time passed. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7. Which two techniques that could be used to determine the age of fossil A. ………………………………………………………. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 8. The diagram shows undisturbed sedimentary rock strata containing fossils. Which statement best summarizes the history of this area?

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a practice about fossils

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Page 1: Fossil Practice

Name:__________________________Fossils: Practice what you know

1. What is a fossil?

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2. What is Relative Dating? ……………………………………………………………………………………….

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3. What is an Index Fossil?

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4. To be useful as an index fossil, a species must have existed for aa. long period over a wide geographic range.b. long period over a small geographic range.c. short period over a wide geographic range.d. short period over a small geographic range.

5. While looking for fossils on an eroded hillside, you discover fossil coral and fish in one layer. In a layer just above, you find the fossil imprint of a fern frond and some fossil moss. Assuming the rock has not been disturbed, which of the following is the most probable conclusion?

a. The area had been a sea until recent times.b. A forest had once grown there but had become submerged by water.c. A sea had been replaced by land in ancient times.d. A saltwater sea had changed to a freshwater lake in ancient times.

6. Based on the fossil record shown in this figure, explain what has happened to the type of habitat found in the area as time passed.

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7. Which two techniques that could be used to determine the age of fossil A.……………………………………………………….

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Page 2: Fossil Practice

8. The diagram shows undisturbed sedimentary rock strata containing fossils. Which statement best summarizes the history of this area?

a. The area was once a forest and was replaced by a freshwater lake

b. The area was once a freshwater lake and was replaced by a saltwater sea

c. The area was once a saltwater sea and later was replaced by a coniferous forest

d. The area was once a saltwater sea and later was replaced by a forest

9. What are isotopes? ………………………………………………………..

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10. What is Radioactive Dating?

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11. What is half-life?

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12. How long is the half-life of potassium-40?

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13. Based on this graph, what is the approximate half-life of carbon-14.

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14. A fossil bone was found to contain about one sixteenth (1/16) of the amount of carbon-14 that was originally present. What is the approximate age of the bone

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15. The age of Earth is estimated at about

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16. The first living organisms on Earth were …………………………………………………………………………….

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17. The oldest fossils known are 3.8 billion years old and were ………………………………….

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Page 3: Fossil Practice

18. When did the production of oxygen by photosynthetic bacteria begin?

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19. What major evolutionary event occurred at the point on the graph indicated by X?

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20. What do you think happened at point Z?

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21. According to this figure, what was the earliest form of multicellular life on Earth?

a. fishb. Invertebrates like

jelly fishes and sponges

c. land plantsd. reptiles

22. The picture shows three columns of exposed rock that are within a three-kilometer area. According to this information, the dominant past environment of this area was

a. Artic tundrab. Shallow marinec. Deciduous forestd. Tropical desert

23. In which type of environment did this fossilized fish most likely live?a. Deep ocean trenchb. A coral reefc. A freshwater lake

Page 4: Fossil Practice

d. Near an ocean vent

Page 5: Fossil Practice

Use the Geologic Time Scale on next page to answer these questions.

1. Based on the fossil evidence, when did life first evolved on Earth? ………………………………………………….

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2. During what Period did the first vertebrates evolved? ………….………..…….……………………………………..

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How long ago was this? ………………………………………………………………………………….……

What type of vertebrates were these animals? …………………………………………………………………..…

3. During what Period did the first plants evolved? ………….………..

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How long ago was this? ……………………………………………………………….

4. During what Period did the first dinosaurs evolved? ………….

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How long ago was this? ………………………………………………………………….

5. The dinosaurs and many other species became extinct in a relatively short period of time that marks

what is known as the K-T boundary. The K-T boundary is the boundary between the Cretaceous and

Tertiary periods . About how long ago did the dinosaurs become extinct? …………….

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6. Imagine that you found a fossil of a bird that dates to 230 million years ago. Why would this find be

astonishing (surprising) to scientists?..………………………………..……………..……………………………..

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7. During what period were most coal deposits formed?

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How long ago did this happen? ……………………………………………………….

8. What evolved first, land plants or land animals? …………………………………………….

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9. If you could go back in time, to the Ordovician and Cambrian Periods, where would you have to go to look

for living organisms: land, freshwater, or oceans? Explain your answer. ……………………………………………..

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Page 6: Fossil Practice

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10. During which period did humans evolve? ……………………………………………………………………………….

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Page 7: Fossil Practice

Radioactive isotopes decay over time giving off radiation as they break down. Scientists compare the amount of the original radioactive element to the amount of the new element present, which has formed as a result of the decay.

Suppose that you start with 100 g of a certain radioisotope that decays to half its original amount in 50,000 years.

Page 8: Fossil Practice

a. Complete Table 1.

Amount ofOriginal Isotope

Amount of“Daughter” Material

(decayed element)Years Passed

100 grams 0 grams 0

50 000

100 000

150 000

200 000

3.125 grams 96.875 grams 250 000

Table 1

b. Graph the data in Table 1 in order to show the relationship between the passage of time and the amount of original radioisotope.