Fossils
The actual remains of animals, plants, and microorganisms
Preserved
Rock-forming materials deposited in horizontal layers
Orginal Horizontality
A system of scientists use to organize and understand Earth's long history.
GTS
Age of ancient life
Paleozoic
Large number of organisms
Abundant
A type of fossil formed when a shell or other hard part of an organism dissolves, leaving an empty space in the shape of the part.
Mold
Lateral Continuity
Units of time from Least to Greatest
Epoch, Period, Era, Eon
Precambrian
The age of rocks and fossils compared to ages of other rocks and fossils
Relative Age
A type of fossil found in any rock when organic material is compressed, leaving only a carbon residue or film.
A rock contains pieces of another rock
Inclusions
These fossils only appear in specific time periods, so finding them helps scientist date rocks and events
Index Fossils
The era when birds developed, mammals, and plants
Mesozoic
How old is Earth?
4.6 Billion Years
A type of fossil that provides evidence of the activities of ancient organisms, like footprints or eggs.
Trace Fossil
One feature cuts across another feature
Cross Cutting Relationships
This unit of this time splits eras into smaller divisions of time.
Periods
Era when Mammals became dominant
Cenozoic
Real age in actual years
Absolute Age
A fossil that is a copy of an organism's shape, formed when minerals seep into a mold.
Cast
Oldest rocks are on the bottom
Superposition
What do scientist use to with rock layers to figure out when different events happened.
Fossils
Age of reptiles
Mesozoic
Final Jeopardy!
Point Value - 750
Plain piece of paper - Write group names and amount of points you currently have.
If a rock layer contains fish fossils and a layer above it contains land animal fossils, what does that tell you about the history of that area?