9th grade Why the fossil record has gaps, and what fossils say about past environments worksheet

Why the fossil record has gaps, and what fossils say about past environments

Grade 9 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Drawing

   a shell on a sea floor being covered by mud.

2. 1.

   What two things most raise the odds that remains become a fossil, by Ari's reading (NPS)?

   • Rapid burial and hard parts
   • Warm air and bright sunlight
   • Lying on the surface for years
   • Slow burial and soft parts
3. 2.

   Why does rapid burial help a fossil form, by Bo's reading (NPS)?

   • Burial adds shells to the remains
   • Sediment shields the remains from decay, weathering and scavengers
   • Burial turns soft parts to stone at once
   • Remains fossilize just as well when they are left lying on open ground
4. 3.

   How likely is any one living thing to become a fossil, by Kira's reading (NPS)?

   • About as likely as a coin landing heads
   • Very likely; most living things become fossils
   • Very unlikely; the odds are very small
   • Certain, if it lived long enough
5. 4.

   A footprint in rock is which kind of fossil, by Jun's reading (NPS)?

   • A body fossil, since a foot made it
   • A trace fossil
   • A piece of amber
   • A preserved remain of the foot
6. 5.

   A shell pressed into mud leaves a hollow, three-dimensional print. What is that print called, by Luz's reading (NPS)?

   • A mold
   • A steinkern
   • A cast
   • A trace fossil, since no body is there
7. 6.

   Sediment later fills that hollow print and hardens into the shell's shape. What is the filling called, by Milo's reading (NPS)?

   • A mold
   • A burrow, which is a trace fossil
   • An amber fossil
   • A cast
8. 7.

   Most fossils are found in which kind of rock, by Pia's reading (NPS)?

   • Rock from deep in the mantle
   • Igneous rock cooled from deep magma
   • Sedimentary rock
   • Metamorphic rock baked deep underground
9. 8.

   A layer holds fossil fish and clams. Where did the layer most likely form, by Ren's reading?

   • Under water, such as a lake or sea
   • On a dry mountaintop
   • In a desert dune field
   • Inside a volcano
10. 9.

    Why does the fossil record have gaps, by Tala's reading (NPS)?

    • Scientists have already found each fossil there is
    • Gaps mean no life existed at those times
    • Gaps mark times when the oceans dried up
    • Few remains are buried fast enough to become fossils
11. 10.

    the middle one has no Q fossils. In one model layer, no fossils of animal Q appear, though layers above and below have them. What is the most careful reading, by Esme's reading?

    • Q may have lived then but left no fossils here
    • The middle layer must be younger than both
    • Q vanished and later came back
    • Q did not exist at that time