vocabulary
Who gathers information to think about what a place was like in the past?
geologist
What is a sedimentary rock?
A rock that forms from sediment compacting and cementing over time.
What is a fossil?
a clue about life from the past that is preserved in a rock
How are changes in the Earth's surface made?
gradually over time
What is something you notice using any of your five senses?
an observation
What is it called when you figure something out based on observations and information you already know?
an inference
What is a hard, thick sheet of the same material called?
a rock layer
How does an organism turn into a fossil?
It is covered with sediment.
When sediment presses together and gets pushed down over time, we can say it has ...
compacted
What is a valley with steep sides made of rock?
a canyon
How does a sedimentary rock layer form?
Sediment sinks and builds up in water, compacts under more sediment, and cements over time.
Where would you find a fossil at, what would it look like, and what would it tell you?
You would find it in a rock. It would look like an engravement and it would tell you a clue about life from the past.
Tell me an example of a sediment.
silt, gravel, sand
What is a big section of exposed rock?
rocky outcrop
Does an organism have to be in the rock in order for a sedimentary rock to form?
no
when an organism dies and is buried in sediment that turns into rock over time
What two things do fossils need to form?
water and sediment
If you found a fossil of a fish, what can you assume?
A lake or ocean covered the area years ago
What means to stick together in the process of forming rock?
to cement
A rock with uneven layers of minerals is a ...
sedimentary rock
Give an example of a fossil
a dinosaur footprint
Why are rocks important to geology?
1. They provide information about the history of the earth
2. They hold clues about how Earth has changed over time.