Earth's History Test - Peoria Public Schools

Name __________________________________________________ Date ______________________________

Earth's History TestMain IdeasRead each item. Then select the letter next to the best answer.

1. You and a friend are hiking through a canyon. You tell your friend that the rock layers in the canyon are all different ages, and you can tell which rock layers are the oldest and which are the youngest. She picks four different rock layers on the canyon wall, as shown in the photograph.

Which layer is the youngest?

A. Layer 1B. Layer 2C. Layer 3D. Layer 4

2. The geologic time scale is a model of Earth’s history. Based on the model shown below, which of the following statements is correct?

A. Modern humans first appeared during the Cretaceous Period.B. Many dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Mesozoic Era.C. Earth’s history is divided into three eras: the Precambrian, the Mesozoic, and the Cenozoic.D. The Precambrian Era, during which life first appeared, was the shortest era in Earth’shistory.

3. Monique is studying how scientists reconstruct Earth’s history by studying rocks and fossils.

Which of the following events was the last to occur?

This question requires an online resource. Login to your subscription to view it.A. The sun formed.B. Earth’s oceans formed.C. Life on Earth originated.D. Meteorites bombarded Earth.

4. You are helping Professor Sanchez correlate the ages of rocks and fossils in two rock formations. One is located in Europe, and the other is located in North America. You create a diagram to match up rock layers in North America with rock layers in Europe.

Based on the results below, which of the following conclusions is supported by the evidence?

A. The fossil in rock layer 1 is approximately 55 million years old.B. The fossil in rock layer 4 is younger than the fossil in rock layer C.C. The fossil in rock layer 2 is younger than the fossil in rock layer D.D. The fossil in rock layer 5 is about the same age as the fossil in rock layer E.

5. A 12-hour-clock model of Earth’s history is shown below. Based on this model, which of the following statements is correct?

A. Animals have lived on Earth for most of its history.B. Land plants have lived on Earth for most of its history.C. Life has existed on Earth for only a small fraction of its history.D. Humans have lived on Earth for only a small fraction of its history.

6. In order to figure out approximately how old this rock is, you take it back to your lab and measure the amount of uranium-235 and the amount of lead contained in the rock. You discover that the relative amounts of these elements are 20% uranium-235 and 80% lead.

What can you conclude about the age of the rock using evidence in the diagram?

A. The rock is older than 2,100 million years old.B. The rock is younger than 700 million years old.C. The rock is between 700 and 1,400 million years old.D. The rock is between 1,400 and 2,100 million years old.

Think Like a ScientistRead about the scientific investigation. Then answer the questions that follow the investigation by selecting the letter next to the best answer.

InvestigationYour class is studying rocks from the Cretaceous and Paleogene Periods. You have been given three rocks to study, each of which contains fossils of organisms known as foraminifera. Foraminifera are tiny, single-celled organisms with shells. In addition, each of the rocks includes a layer that contains large amounts of iridium. The iridium layer marks the boundary between Cretaceous and Paleogene. These iridium-rich layers are marked in blue.

7. Which of the choices A-D shows fossils correctly ordered from oldest to youngest?

A. Fossil Group AB. Fossil Group BC. Fossil Group CD. Fossil Group D

8. Which of the following fossils are you most likely to find in Layer X in Rock #3?

A. Fossil AB. Fossil BC. Fossil CD. Fossil D

9. Which of the following conclusions is supported by the scientific evidence your class examined?

A. Rock #2 includes the oldest rock strata your class examined.B. Rock #1 includes only rock strata from the Paleogene Period.C. Rock #3 includes only rock strata from the Cretaceous Period.D. Rock #1 includes the oldest rock strata your class examined.

Expressing Science Practices, Concepts, and IdeasRead the directions for each item carefully before constructing your response.

10. Your class has been learning how to date rocks and fossils, so your teacher takes you on a field trip to the Grand Canyon! What can your class learn about the age of the canyon and the fossils in it?

• Label the diagram using the words in the word bank.• Write a caption to explain the Law of Superposition using the words from your diagram

WORD BANK rock strata oldest layer youngest layer

11. Your class is interested in studying plant fossils. You have four rocks, and you want to know which of them might contain plant fossils. You decide to determine the approximate age of each rock and then use information about when plants originated to figure this out.

To determine the approximate age of each rock, you measure the amount of uranium-235 and lead in the rock. Remember that, over time, the uranium-235 inside rocks is converted to lead. So, knowing the amount of each element in a rock allows you to estimate its age. The graph below shows the percent of uranium-235 found in rocks of different ages.

Use the information in the graph and the geologic time scale to fill in the table.

% Uranium-235

ApproximateAge

Geologic Era Could thisrock containplant fossils?

Rock A 80% 250 millionsof years

Rock B 60%

Rock C 40%

Rock D 20% 2 Billion(2000

Millions ofyears)

PrecambrianTime

No

12. You are preparing a presentation for your class in which you will compare two different models of Earth’s history, the geologic time scale and the 12-hour-clock model. Write a script for what you plan to say in your presentation using the images shown below. In your presentation, you should:

• Explain why scientists find models for Earth’s history helpful.• Explain what information scientists use to create a model of Earth’s history.• Explain what the two models (geologic time scale and 12-hour clock model) have in common and how they differ.

In your essay, be sure to use all the words from the following word bank.

WORD BANKabsolute dating, fossils, geologic era, geologic period, geologic time scale, measurement, model, observation, relative dating, rock strata, scale, time