Fossil Detectives
A beekeeper in California finds a fossil of a coral in a meadow. This tells the beekeeper what?
What is the area was once covered underwater?
What is a layer of rock called that holds clues about Earth’s history?
What is rock strata?
What two types of fossils are the imprint of an organism?
What are cast and mold fossils?
Approximately how long ago did dinosaurs become extinct?
What is about 65 million years ago?
A rectangle has a length of 5 feet and a width of 3 feet. What is its perimeter?
What is 16 feet? (2L + 2W)
The remains or imprints of ancient organisms that became preserved in rock through mineralization.
What are fossils?
How do scientists determine the age of rock layers?
What is the older layers are on the bottom (most of the time), while the youngest layers are at the top?
Which fossil is most likely to survive as a fossil: a fish's bones, its skin, or its fins?
What is the fish's bones, as they are hard and more likely to be preserved?
Which time period came first: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, or Precambrian?
What is Precambrian?
How many inches are in 4 feet?
What is 48 inches? (4 feet x 12 inches)
Which of the following must happen first in the fossilization process: sediments build up, or the organism dies and is buried?
What is the organism dies and is buried first, followed by the build-up of sediments?
What feature in a rock core sample would suggest it’s from sedimentary rock?
What is sedimentary rocks have horizontal patterns?
What kind of fossil can help scientists identify the age of surrounding rock layers?
What is an index fossil?
What is a mass extinction?
What is when many species of plants or and animals go extinct at the same time?
If a rectangular garden has a length of 12 meters and a width of 6 meters, what is the area?
What is 72 square meters? (A = L x W)
What type of fossil is formed when an organism’s soft parts decay, but its hard parts like bones are preserved?
What is a body fossil?
What causes the layers of rock to bend and tilt over time?
What is folding?
What three things do index fossils tell scientists?
What is the fossils are found in the same layer, they are the same age, and they are widespread?
What substance found in key bed layers supports the theory that an asteroid impact caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs?
What is iridium?
Convert 120 inches to feet.
What is 10 feet? (120 / 12)
Fossils can form when an organism’s tracks are left in mud or sand. What is this type of fossil called?
What is a trace fossil?
What two forces can cause the layers of rock to be disturbed?
What is an earthquake, or fault?
What is the difference between a body fossil, and a trace fossil?
What is a body fossil is the whole body of an organism, while a trace fossil is the footprints, burrows, or nests of an organism. It tracks activity, and does not show the whole body of the organism.
What is the correct order of the Geologic Time Scale Eras? Please start with the era that happened first.
What is Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic?
A square has sides that are 8 centimeters long. What is the perimeter of the square?
What is 32 centimeters? (P= 4 x side length)