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6th grade Reading rock layers and the history of life worksheet

6 printable versionsBuilding Confidence10 questions · answer keyFree · no account

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Reading rock layers and the history of life

Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. “not to scale” Looking at the same cliff, Bo wants the youngest layer. Which layer is it?

    • C, in the middle
    • The one with the most fossils
    • A, at the top
    • D, at the bottom

  2. 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?

    • Whichever fossil is bigger
    • Both are the same age
    • The shells in layer C
    • The fish in layer B

  3. 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 shells grew after the mountain formed last century
    • Birds dropped the shells there recently
    • The rock formed under the sea long ago

  4. Luz is making a museum label. Which is the best meaning of the word fossil?

    • A living thing that turned to stone overnight
    • A rock that wind carved into an animal shape
    • Remains or traces of a living thing kept in rock
    • Any very old rock

  5. Noah is making a time-line poster. Which list puts the three eras in order, oldest first?

    • Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic
    • Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic
    • Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
    • Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic

  6. In which era did dinosaurs (other than birds) live, according to Pia's time line?

    • The Cenozoic, alongside early people
    • In each era, right up to today
    • The Paleozoic, before any fish
    • The Mesozoic

  7. 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?

    • People and dinosaurs together, then trilobites
    • Trilobites, then people, then dinosaurs
    • Trilobites, then dinosaurs, then people
    • Dinosaurs, then people, then trilobites

  8. A blank time line from Earth's start to today. About how old is the Earth, according to the USGS page Tala is reading?

    • About 45,000 years
    • About 4.5 million years
    • About 4.5 billion years
    • About 100 billion years

  9. How did scientists work out Earth's age, as Zee reads on the USGS page?

    • By judging how old the oldest fossils look
    • By measuring radioactive elements in old rocks and meteorites
    • By counting the layers in one cliff
    • By guessing from how tall mountains are

  10. 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
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6th grade Reading rock layers and the history of life worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Reading rock layers and the history of life. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can order undisturbed rock layers (lower is older) and use features that cut across layers (they are younger).
  • I can use index fossils to match layers at different places and read what fossils say about past environments.
  • I can place events on the geologic time scale. Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and people appeared at the very end.

Standard: MS-ESS1-4, MS-LS4-1

Words to know

fossil: Remains or traces of a living thing kept in rock

superposition: In undisturbed layers, lower layers are older than the ones above

cross-cutting: Something that cuts across rock layers is younger than they are

index fossil: A fossil of life that lived briefly but widely; it dates layers

era: A long division of Earth's history: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic

extinct: No longer living anywhere on Earth

Common mistakes

Your child read rock layers from the top down. Stack a few books one at a time: the first one down, at the bottom, is the oldest.

Your child thought something that cuts across rock layers is older than they are. The layers had to be there first, so the cut is younger.

Your child thought any fossil dates a rock. The best dating fossils lived for a short time but spread widely; exact numbers come from radioactive dating.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with reading rock layers and the history of life?

Your child read rock layers from the top down. Stack a few books one at a time: the first one down, at the bottom, is the oldest.

Are these 6th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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