True/False
Indicate whether the
statement is true or false.
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1.
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Fossils most often form when a dead organism is buried in sediments.
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2.
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Carbon films are formed when a thin film of carbon is left, forming a silhouette
of the original organism.
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3.
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Dinosaur footprints are original remains.
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4.
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To be a useful index fossil, a species must have been rare.
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5.
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Nonconformities occur when sedimentary rocks are deposited on top of uplifted
and eroded metamorphic or igneous rocks.
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6.
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Radiocarbon dating would be useful in dating the age of Earth.
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7.
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Index fossils are the remains of species that existed on Earth for relatively
short periods of time.
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8.
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Absolute age examines the position of rocks in a sequence.
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Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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9.
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All of the following conditions help preserve organisms as fossils EXCEPT
____.
a. | quick burial by sediments | c. | protection from
scavengers | b. | hard parts | d. | activities of microorganisms |
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10.
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If the same types of fossils are found in two separate rock layers, it's
likely that the two rock layers ____.
a. | formed at different times | c. | formed under different
conditions | b. | are part of one continuous deposit | d. | none of the
above |
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11.
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Determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the
position of rocks in a sequence is called ____.
a. | absolute dating | c. | relative dating | b. | radiometric dating | d. | radiocarbon
dating |
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12.
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Gaps in rock layers are called ____.
a. | unconformities | c. | half-lives | b. | index fossils | d. | none of the
above |
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13.
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If the same sequence of rock layers is observed over a large area, ____.
a. | they are probably not related | b. | a large deposit of rock formed over a large
area | c. | conditions of formation were probably very different | d. | it is just a
coincidence |
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14.
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A limestone bed containing fossils that are 550 million years old is ____ a bed
of sandstone containing fossils that are 400 million years old.
a. | younger than | c. | older than | b. | the same age as | d. | not related to |
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15.
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In a series of undisturbed rock layers where shale lies between sandstone below
and limestone above, the ____.
a. | limestone is youngest | c. | sandstone is youngest | b. | shale is
youngest | d. | beds are all the
same age |
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16.
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____ dating uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find
their ages.
a. | Comparative | c. | Approximate | b. | Absolute | d. | Relative |
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17.
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Rock layers are correlated if they both contain the same ____.
a. | elements | c. | fossils | b. | shapes | d. | type of rock |
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18.
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If a layer of sandstone lies on top of a layer of limestone in which a
300-million-year-old fossil is found, and there are no unconformities, the layer of sandstone must be
____.
a. | older than 300 million years | c. | about 300 million years
old | b. | younger than 300 million years | d. | older than 600 million
years |
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19.
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With ____ dating, a rock's exact age can be determined, whereas with ____
dating, a rock's age is compared to the ages of other rocks.
a. | absolute, relative | c. | true, absolute | b. | relative, absolute | d. | relative,
approximate |
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20.
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Geologic time is divided into units based upon types of ____.
a. | sedimentary rocks | c. | organisms | b. | climatic changes | d. | igneous rocks |
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21.
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The Alps, Andes, and Himalaya formed in the ____.
a. | Cenozoic Era | c. | Mesozoic Era | b. | Paleozoic Era | d. | Devonian Era |
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22.
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The longest subdivision in geologic time is a(n) ____.
a. | epoch | c. | century | b. | period | d. | eon |
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23.
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Changes in the environment result in ____.
a. | geologic eras | c. | plate tectonic changes | b. | physical changes in
species | d. | all of the
above |
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24.
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____ existed during the Mesozoic Era.
a. | Angiosperms | c. | Birds | b. | Humans | d. | both a and c |
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25.
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Cenozoic Era life-forms include ____.
a. | humans | c. | marine mammals | b. | reptiles | d. | all of the
above |
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26.
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The development of ____ factored in the development of complex organisms.
a. | ozone | c. | cyanobacteria | b. | oxygen | d. | all of the
above |
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27.
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Today, some scientists think that ____.
a. | birds evolved from dinosaurs | c. | birds evolved from
amphibians | b. | dinosaurs evolved from fish | d. | both a and b |
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28.
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Homo sapiens probably appeared ____ ago.
a. | 66 million years | c. | 400,000 years | b. | 6 million years | d. | none of the
above |
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29.
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A life-form in the Precambrian time was ____.
a. | cyanobacteria | c. | reptiles | b. | humans | d. | dinosaurs |
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30.
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Life-forms that existed during the Paleozoic Era included ____.
a. | fish | c. | reptiles | b. | trilobites | d. | all of the
above |
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31.
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The end of the Paleozoic Era was signaled by ____.
a. | the development of humans | b. | mass extinction of land and sea
animals | c. | the development of organisms with hard parts | d. | both a and
b |
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32.
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A life-form that evolved during the ____ Era was the dinosaur.
a. | Cenozoic | c. | Precambrian | b. | Mesozoic | d. | none of the
above |
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33.
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Which trilobite characteristic did not change through time?
a. | shape of eyes | c. | number of body segments | b. | 3-lobed
body | d. | number of
spines |
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34.
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Trilobites are index fossils because they ____.
a. | changed slowly through time | c. | exhibit specific
characteristics | b. | lived over large areas of the world | d. | all of the
above |
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35.
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Changes in the trilobite exoskeleton can be attributed to ____.
a. | changing environments | c. | inter-species mating | b. | competition for survival | d. | both a and b |
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36.
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Plate tectonics may affect organic evolution because movement of plates may
cause a change in ____.
a. | natural selection | c. | Pangaea | b. | the environment | d. | the geologic time
scale |
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37.
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Pangaea separated into ____.
a. | two large landmasses | c. | two southern landmasses | b. | four
continents | d. | none of the
above |
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38.
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Angiosperms are the dominant land plant today because they developed
____.
a. | deep root systems | c. | large, broad leaves | b. | hard seed coats | d. | heavy, thick
bark |
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39.
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Little is known about much of Earth’s early history because ____.
a. | Precambrian rocks have been deeply buried | b. | Precambrian rocks
have been changed by heat and pressure | c. | Precambrian soft-bodied life-forms
weren’t often preserved as fossils | d. | all of the
above |
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40.
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Reptiles evolved from an ancestor of amphibians that developed a(n) ____.
a. | egg with a strong outer shell that kept it from drying out | b. | hard set of
teeth | c. | thick eyelid | d. | long tail |
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41.
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Dinosaurs are thought to have been protective of their young because
____.
a. | more than one family of dinosaurs built their nests in an area | b. | they might have been
warm-blooded | c. | some nurtured their young and traveled in protective herds | d. | they may have been
fast moving |
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42.
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Animal life in the Paleozoic Era included all of the following EXCEPT
____.
a. | marine life | c. | amphibians | b. | humans | d. | reptiles |
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43.
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Animal life in the Cenozoic Era includes ____.
a. | marine life | c. | mammals | b. | birds | d. | all of the
above |
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44.
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____ on the geologic time scale are marked by major, striking, and worldwide
changes in the type of fossils present.
a. | Eras | c. | Epochs | b. | Periods | d. | all of the
above |
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45.
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Only epochs in the ____ Era(s) have been given specific names.
a. | Cenozoic | c. | Paleozoic | b. | Mesozoic | d. | all of the
above |
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46.
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The division of Earth’s history into smaller units makes up the
____.
a. | eras | c. | periods | b. | geologic time scale | d. | sequence of
events |
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47.
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If a species can adapt to a changing environment, or ____, its descendants will
survive.
a. | evolve | c. | stay the same | b. | become extinct | d. | none of the
above |
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48.
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____ is a process by which organisms with characteristics suited to the
environment will survive and reproduce.
a. | Natural selection | c. | Evolution | b. | Artificial selection | d. | Organic
evolution |
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49.
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The change in environments that may have occurred at the end of the Paleozoic
Era may have been caused by ____.
a. | mass extinctions | c. | plate tectonics | b. | evolution of the dinosaurs | d. | the beginning of an ice
age |
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50.
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The ____ formed during the Paleozoic Era.
a. | Andes | c. | Appalachian Mountains | b. | Alps | d. | Himalaya |
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51.
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Scientists believe dinosaurs evolved from ____ during the Mesozoic Era.
a. | amphibians | c. | reptiles | b. | birds | d. | mammals |
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52.
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The hard scales of reptiles' skin helped them to retain water, enabling
them to adapt to the ____ climate during the Mesozoic Era.
a. | dryer | c. | colder | b. | warmer | d. | wetter |
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53.
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Humans first appeared during the ____ Era.
a. | Precambrian | c. | Mesozoic | b. | Paleozoic | d. | Cenozoic |
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Matching
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Match each item with the correct statement below. a. | remains | e. | missing layer | b. | fossil | f. | trace | c. | mold | g. | radioactive decay | d. | hard | h. | carbon-14 |
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54.
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A ______ may tell a geologist when, where, and how an organism lived.
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55.
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A ______ is the cavity left behind in the rock after an organism's hard
part has dissolved.
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56.
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Fossils up to 75,000 years old can be dated with ______.
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57.
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The ______ parts of organisms are most likely to become fossils.
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58.
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Fossils are the ______, imprints, or traces of once-living organisms preserved
in rock.
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59.
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An unconformity is a ______ of rock.
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60.
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Preserved animal tracks are called ______ fossils.
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61.
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is measured in half-lives
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Match each item with the correct statement below. a. | carbonaceous film | g. | index fossils | b. | cast | h. | mold | c. | principle of
superposition | i. | uniformitarianism | d. | radiometric dating | j. | radioactive decay | e. | beta
decay | k. | relative
dating | f. | half-life | l. | unconformities |
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62.
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the process in which one of an isotope's neutrons breaks down into a
proton and an electron and the electron leaves the atom as a beta particle [beta
decay]
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63.
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fossil formed when an outline of the original organism is formed from left-over
carbon
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64.
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made when sediments fill in a cavity made when an object decayed and the
sediments harden into rock
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65.
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the time it takes for half of the atoms in an isotope to decay
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66.
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fossils of species that lived on Earth for short periods of time and were
abundant and were widespread geographically
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67.
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states that for undisturbed rocks, the oldest rocks are on the bottom and the
rocks become younger and younger toward the top
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68.
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hollow place in rock made when an organism died and was buried and holes in the
rock let air or water reach it and dissolve the organism
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69.
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the process of calculating the absolute age of a rock by measuring the amounts
of parent and daughter materials in a rock and by knowing the half-life of the parent
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70.
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a process that uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find
their ages
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71.
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the order of events and the relative age of rocks is determined by examining
the position of rocks in a sequence
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72.
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gaps in rock layers that develop when agents of erosion remove existing rock
layers
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73.
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states that Earth processes today are similar to those that took place in the
past
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Short Answer
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74.
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Do all rocks contain fossils? Describe the conditions necessary for fossils to
form.
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75.
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Explain what is meant by correlating rock layers.
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76.
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Explain what the term half-life means and how knowing the half-life of an
element can help a geologist establish the age of a rock or fossil.
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77.
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What effect does plate tectonics have on organic evolution?
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78.
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How did plate tectonics affect the evolution of dominant animal life during the
Mesozoic Era?
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79.
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What changes were necessary in Earth’s atmosphere to allow complex
organisms to evolve?
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80.
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What is the most significant difference between Precambrian and Paleozoic
life-forms?
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81.
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What is one theory to explain the sudden disappearance of many animals at the
end of the Mesozoic Era?
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82.
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Describe some of the changes in the land and in life-forms that occurred at the
end of the Paleozoic Era.
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Problem
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83.
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A sample of a radioactive element has a mass of 80 g. How much parent and
daughter materials are in the sample after two half-lives?
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Completion
Complete each
statement.
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84.
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A(n) ____________________ is a group of organisms that only reproduces with
other members of their group.
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85.
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Mammals first appeared in the ____________________ Period.
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