Geological Time Scale Quiz

Multiselect: Read the question and check the TWO answer choices that are correct. Ronald is learning the difference between absolute and relative dating to determine the age of a rock. Which statements in this list refer to relative dating? Choose TWO correct answers.

• This is also called radiometric dating.
• It is like saying you are younger than your mother.
• Relies on the property of half-life, which is the predictable time for an element to decay.
• Disturbances in the rock layers make this type of dating difficult.
• This uses the decay of radioactive elements to find the age.

Which of the following eras are the longest in the geologic time scale?

• Precambrian Time
• Paleozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Cenozoic Era

Which of the following time periods are the oldest in the geologic time scale?

• Paleozoic Era
• Mesozoic Era
• Precambrian Time
• Cenozoic Era

Which rock layer is the newest?

• A
• B
• C
• D

Which fossil is older than the fish fossil?

• A
• B
• C
• D

A major event that happened during Precambrian Time was

• Periods of ice ages
• The first life appeared on Earth (one-celled animals, bacteria, jellyfish).
• Mass extinction

A major event that happened during the Paleozoic (early life) Era was

• Planet Earth formed.
• Formation of the supercontinent, Pangaea
• Complex life: dinosaurs, small mammals, birds, conifers, and flowering plants

A major event that happened during the Mesozoic (middle life) Era was

• Complex life: dinosaurs, small mammals, birds, conifers, and flowering plants
• Development of large mammals including human beings
• Planet Earth formed.

A major event that happened during the Cenozoic (late life) Era was

• Development of large mammals including human beings
• Formation of the supercontinent, Pangaea
• Mass extinction

remains of an organism that lived in the past

• absolute dating

• relative dating

• fossils

• half-life