Reading rock layers and the history of life
Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence
Circle the best answer.
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not to scale
Ari sketches a cliff with four flat, undisturbed rock layers, A on top down to D at the bottom. Which layer is the oldest?
- B, since it is the thickest
- D, at the bottom
- A, at the top
- Each layer is the same age
Looking at the same cliff, Bo wants the youngest layer. Which layer is it?
Use the picture in question 1.
- C, in the middle
- A, at the top
- The one with the most fossils
- D, at the bottom
Layer B with fish-shaped fossils above layer C with shell-shaped fossils; the layers are flat. Layer B has fish fossils, and layer C just below it has shell fossils. The layers are flat and undisturbed. Which fossils does Kira say are older?
- The fish in layer B
- Whichever fossil is bigger
- Both are the same age
- The shells in layer C
On a mountain hike, Jun finds fossil seashells in rock far above the sea. What does that show?
- Sea animals once climbed the mountain
- The rock formed under the sea long ago
- Birds dropped the shells there recently
- The shells grew after the mountain formed last century
Luz is making a museum label. Which is the best meaning of the word fossil?
- Remains or traces of a living thing kept in rock
- Any very old rock
- A rock that wind carved into an animal shape
- A living thing that turned to stone overnight
Low layers hold fossils of sea creatures unlike any living today; high layers hold fossils like today's clams. What does Milo conclude?
- Life on Earth has changed over time
- Today's clams were the first life
- The kinds of life stayed the same
- The upper fossils are the older ones
Noah is making a time-line poster. Which list puts the three eras in order, oldest first?
- Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic
- Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic
- Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic
- Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
Three picture cards (trilobite, dinosaur, early person) next to a blank time line from older to today. Ren puts three fossil cards on the time line: trilobites, dinosaurs and early people. Which order is right, oldest first?
- Trilobites, then dinosaurs, then people
- People and dinosaurs together, then trilobites
- Dinosaurs, then people, then trilobites
- Trilobites, then people, then dinosaurs
How did scientists work out Earth's age, as Zee reads on the USGS page?
- By judging how old the oldest fossils look
- By counting the layers in one cliff
- By guessing from how tall mountains are
- By measuring radioactive elements in old rocks and meteorites
A long time line from Earth's start to today, with a blank box at the right end. Esme compares how long people have been around with Earth's whole history. Which fits?
- About half of Earth's history
- A tiny sliver at the very end
- Almost the whole of Earth's history
- Ever since Earth formed