History of Earth English Unit 11

Why is it important for geologists to use both relative and absolute ages to determine the age of rocks?

• Scientists want to learn about the age of rocks.

• Scientists need only one way to determine the age of rocks.

• Scientists may not be able to determine the absolute age of some rocks.

• Scientists can tell the age of rocks using the law of superposition.

Which of the following are examples of how rock layers may be disturbed or changed?

• igneous intrusion

• superposition

• extrusion

• fault

• fossil formation

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NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

What are index fossils?

• Index fossils are fossils or organisms that were widely distributed and lasted only for a short time geologically.

• Index fossils help geologists match and date rock layers, even if they are far apart or spread out and show their relative age.

• All of the above

Geologists can infer from index fossils that layers containing matching fossils are the same age.

• True

• False

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

After looking at the diagrams, Sara noticed that the rock layers at Location 4 differed from those of the other three locations. What likely explains this difference?

• Layer B isn't shown due to the absence of index fossils.

• Location 4 held index fossils similar to the other locations.

• Location 4 had heavy erosion, and soon a layer of rock will be deposited on top of it.

• Layer B eroded away, and layers C and D were deposited on top of layer A at a later time.

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Emily was interested in how geologists date rocks, and she learned about two methods. What is used to find the absolute age of ancient rocks because it has a long _______?

• absolute age / half-life

• half-life / relative age

• relative age / absolute age

• half-life / half-life

Carbon-14 is used for dating much _______ rocks due to its shorter _______.

• younger / absolute age

• older / half-life

• younger / half-life

• older / absolute age

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NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Nikki was putting together a presentation about the geologic time scale. What is the purpose of the geologic time scale?

• to organize and sequence events by eras and periods in the different divisions of time and to serve as a timeline

• to show the evolution of life forms and to model how those life forms behaved and what they ate

• to organize and sequence events in the history of Earth and to serve as a model for a vast amount of time covered

• to determine the relative ages of rocks and when and how they formed to create a timeline of their development

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

Which two phrases best characterize the Precambrian time?

• A. A time of great evolutionary change

• B. A time with multiple periods in it

• C. A time of few fossils

• D. A time that covers 88 percent of Earth’s history

Which of the following would provide physical evidence that could change the divisions on the geologic timeline?

• A. The discovery of ancient ruins buried deep in ocean floor sediments

• B. The discovery of fossilized microorganisms in ocean floor sediments

• C. The discovery of evidence of humans who lived long ago

• D. The discovery of evidence of different kinds of rocks that recently appeared

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NGSS.MS-ESS1-4