Fossils, Extinction, and Paleontology

What are fossils?

• Pieces of ancient artifacts found in caves

• Traces of recent plants found in forests

• Remains of organisms from millions of years ago found in rocks

• Fragments of modern animals found in the ocean

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

How can fossils form when an organism decays?

• The organism becomes a fossil instantly

• Parts of the organism are slowly replaced by minerals

• The organism disappears completely

• The organism turns into a mineral

Why are there very few fossils for early life-forms?

• They were preserved in museums

• They were not interesting to scientists

• They were too small to be fossilized

• They were destroyed by changes to rocks in the Earth's crust

What is the definition of extinction?

• The process of becoming a fossil

• The disappearance of a species from the Earth

• The evolution of a new species

• The migration of a species to a new habitat

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

How did the dinosaurs become extinct?

• Due to a catastrophic event like an asteroid collision

• Due to a change in weather patterns

• Due to a disease outbreak

• Due to a new predator hunting them

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

What can lead to the extinction of a species when the environment changes?

• A decrease in the number of predators

• A decrease in the number of diseases

• A change in weather patterns

• A decrease in the number of competitors

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-4

How can a species become extinct if a new, more successful species evolves?

• By competing for scarce food or water

• By evolving into a new species

• By forming an alliance with the new species

• By migrating to a new habitat

Tags

NGSS.HS-LS4-2

NGSS.HS-LS4-5

What do fossils provide evidence for?

• The existence of ancient artifacts

• The process of natural selection

• The formation of rocks

• The evolution of species

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

NGSS.MS-LS4-2

Why do soft-bodied organisms very rarely form fossils?

• Because they are not interesting to scientists

• Because they are too small to be fossilized

• Because they migrate to new habitats

• Because they decay too quickly

What can happen when the conditions needed for decay are absent?

• The organism does not decay

• The organism slowly decays

• The organism disappears completely

• The organism turns into a mineral