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Worksheet - Index Fossils: PDS/Earth Science/January 10, 2008

Index fossils are the remains of animals that lived during a specific period of Earth's history. They are easily identifiable, lived for a relatively short time, are found widely geographically, and were abundant. Scientists study index fossils to determine the age of rock layers because their presence in rock formations around the world has helped establish the geologic time scale. The worksheet asks students to identify the oldest, longest-living, and 286 million year old index fossils based on a provided chart and diagram, and to answer questions about the relative ages of rock layers and features in the diagram based on the presence of index fossils.

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Joy Perez
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48 views

Worksheet - Index Fossils: PDS/Earth Science/January 10, 2008

Index fossils are the remains of animals that lived during a specific period of Earth's history. They are easily identifiable, lived for a relatively short time, are found widely geographically, and were abundant. Scientists study index fossils to determine the age of rock layers because their presence in rock formations around the world has helped establish the geologic time scale. The worksheet asks students to identify the oldest, longest-living, and 286 million year old index fossils based on a provided chart and diagram, and to answer questions about the relative ages of rock layers and features in the diagram based on the presence of index fossils.

Uploaded by

Joy Perez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: __________________________

Block: __________________________

Date: __________________

Worksheet Index Fossils


Background: An Index Fossil is the remains of an animal that lived and died within a
particular time during Earths history. The characteristics of an Index Fossil are:

Easily identifiable;
Lived a relatively short period of time (thus are only found in a few rock layers);
Found in a wide geographic area; and are
Abundant and widespread.

Why Do Scientists Look at Index Fossils?: Index Fossils can be useful in determining
the age 0f layers of rock or soil. By comparing this type of information from a rock
formation found throughout the world, scientists have been able to establish the Geologic
Time Scale.
Directions: Please answer the questions below.
I. A fossil from a species that existed on Earth for a short period of time is a
________________________________.
II. Review the chart and diagram found below in order to:
1. Identify the oldest Index Fossil, which is __________________________
2. Identify the Index Fossil that lived for the longest period of time, which is
_________________________ and
3. Identify the Index Fossil that died 286 million years ago, which is
___________________________.

PDS/Earth Science/January 10, 2008

III. Review the diagram found below in order to answer the questions that follow.
1. In which layer is the fossil most likely the oldest?
a. layer B
b. layer C
c. layer D
d. layer E
2. What type of feature is present at the letter X?
a. trace fossil
b. carbonaceous film
c. unconformity
d. Carbon-14
3. Which of these processes most likely contributed to the formation of these
layers of rock?
a. sedimentation
b. earthquakes
c. tidal waves
d. radioactive decay
4. Which two (2) layers within the diagram contain Index Fossils of the same
species?
a. layer A and layer E
b. layer B and layer E
c. layer A and layer D
d. layer A and layer B

PDS/Earth Science/January 10, 2008

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