Researchers found seashell fossils, including those from mollusks and coral, in a rock formation high in the Rocky Mountains.
Which statement BEST explains why seashell fossils can be found on some mountains?
The rocks formed under water.
Rivers carried the rocks up the mountains.
The area was a sand dune that hardened as it was covered by water.
The mountains split to form canyons that contained organisms with shells.
A dinosaur fossil is shown.
Which question can scientists most likely answer from studying the fossil of the dinosaur?
What was the pattern of the skin of the dinosaur?
What was the type of food the dinosaur ate?
How fast was the heart of the dinosaur beating?
How many eggs were in the nest of the dinosaur?
A scientist finds the plant fossil shown.
Which question can the scientist most likely answer by examining this fossil?
What was the average monthly rainfall in the area?
How much water was absorbed by the roots of the plant?
How much oxygen was in the atmosphere surrounding the plant?
What was the environment like in the area when the plant was alive?
An archeologist thinks that his dig site used to be a creek environment.
Which fossils would help support this hypothesis?
A and B
A and D
B and C
A, B, and D
Plant fossils are found in abundance within the sandstone of the Antarctic Peninsula. The diverse plant fossils found in the area tells us that past the environment of Antarctica was ―
rainy and cold in the past
warm and temperate in the past
hot and dry in the past
cold and windy in the past
Imagine that a student found a fossil of the leaf, shown below, in your school’s playground.
Which conclusion best represents the origin of the fossil based on the evidence shown?
There were no animals in the area at the time this leaf was fossilized.
The leaf made an imprint in the sediment before it hardened to rock.
The plants at this time had bones which allowed them to be fossilized.
The leaf was in the fossilized stomach of an animal.
Scientists have uncovered palm plant fossils in Alaska, the northern-most state of the United States. Modern-day palm plants grow in tropical climates. A picture of a palm fossil that measures almost one meter across is shown.
This discovery suggests to scientists that this area in Alaska once was —
covered with an ocean
warmer than it is now
populated by polar bears
changed by earthquakes
Scientists believe that Texas’s landscape and climate has changed throughout history. 250 million years ago, Texas was believed to be partially covered by salt water. Which of these fossils could be evidence of the fact that there was an ocean where Texas is today?
Select TWO answers.
A bone from a Pleurocoelus, which was a dinosaur that was an herbivore
A shell from an Ammonite, which was an animal related to modern squids
A tusk from a Mastadon, which was an animal related to modern elephants
A piece of petrified Palmwood, which was part of an ancient palm tree
A tooth from a Megalodon, which was an animal related to modern sharks