RI.2.3 La Brea Tar Pits

How do scientists know that Los Angeles was once cooler and wetter than it is today?

• Fossils of plants and animals that lived only in cool, wet places have been found there.

• Scientists have read newspapers that were written during the time the animals lived there.

• The tar pits are still cool and wet today.

Life-size statues of _______ at the La Brea Tar Pits.

The tar pits still trap animals today.

• True

• False

What information can the reader gain from this visual?

• Scientists have not found any animal fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits.

• Scientists still search for fossils at the La Brea Tar Pits.

• It is impossible to remove the fossils from the La Brea Tar Pits.

How did mammoths become stick in the tar pits?

• Mammoths fell into the tar pits.

• Mammoths went into the tar pits to find food.

• Animals chased them into the tar pits.

After the animals would get caught in the tar pits they would _____.

• climb out

• struggle and die

• escape

How many years ago was the area covered by water?

• more than 100,000 years ago

• about 40,000 years ago

• about 100,000 years ago

What happened to the trapped animals after they died?

• Over time they became fossils.

• They became dinosaur bones.

• They never changed.

What are the La Brea Tar Pits like today?

• They are covered in water.

• They are surrounded by a busy city.

• They are cold and wet.

Fossils of all of the following animals were found at the La Brea Tar Pits except___.

• saber-toothed cat

• mammoths

• dinosaurs