Geologic Time Jeopardy
The Dating
Game
Mass
Extinctions
Time. Period.
Fossils
Wild Card
$100
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$200
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FINAL ROUND
$100 Question
This scientific principle states
that a rock layer is always
younger than all the parallel
layers below it.
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$100 Answer
Principle of Superposition
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$200 Question
This is the method of
approximating the age of a
rock layer in comparison to
other layers.
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$200 Answer
Relative Dating
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$300 Question
Which is classified as an unconformity?
a)
Rock layers tilted sideways over time due
to tectonic activity
b)
Rock layers deposited horizontally
c)
A rock layer consisting of various sized
particles
d)
A rock layer with fossils in it
ANSWER
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$300 Answer
a)
rock layers tiled sideways
due to tectonic activity
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$400 Question
Which layer is the next oldest after
Layer 1
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$400 Answer
Layer 6 is the next oldest after
Layer 1
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$500 Question
If a sample of rock originally
contained 400 grams of a radioactive
compound and the half-life of the
compound is 100 million years, how
much of the compound would be left
after the rock aged for 200 million
years?
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$500 Answer
200 million years = 2 half-lives
0 half-lives = 400 grams
1 half-life = 200 grams
2 half-lives = 100 grams
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$100 Question
What makes a mass extinction
different than “regular”
extinctions?
ANSWER
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$100 Answer
Mass extinctions result in large
numbers of organisms
becoming extinct in a relatively
short time span
BACK TO GAME
$200 Question
Name two phenomena that
scientists believe can cause a
mass extinction.
ANSWER
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$200 Answer
1.
Climate Change
2.
Sea level fluctuations
3.
Astronomical events
(meteor impact, cosmic radiation, etc)
4.
Extreme volcanic activity
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$300 Question
The most famous mass
extinction was that which
wiped out the majority of the
dinosaurs at the end of which
time period?
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$300 Answer
End of the Cretaceous Period
(approx. 65 million years ago)
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$400 Question
A mass extinction at the end of the
Precambrian Eon, would have
affected which types of creatures?
a)
Dinosaurs
b)
Marine Invertebrates
c)
Mammals
d)
Large Fish and Sharks
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$400 Answer
b) marine invertebrates
Aside from some land plants and almost
all life lived in the ocean during the
Precambrian time, however, fish did not
evolve until late in the paleozoic (150
million years later)
BACK TO GAME
$500 Question
How many significant mass
extinctions do scientists
currently acknowledge in
Earth’s history?
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$500 Answer
5 mass extinctions
1.
Ordovician Period
2.
Devonian Period
3.
Permian Period
4.
Triassic
5.
Cretaceous
BACK TO GAME
$100 Question
This is the only Era in which the
dinosaurs lived.
(unless you count birds as dinos!)
ANSWER
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$100 Answer
Mesozoic Era
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$200 Question
A rapid evolution and
diversification, particularly of
animals, occurred during this
time period within the
Paleozoic Era.
Hint: the 1st period in the Era!
ANSWER
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$200 Answer
Cambrian Period
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$300 Question
This is the most recent
geologic era, the era that
includes today’s time.
ANSWER
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$300 Answer
Cenozoic Era
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$400 Question
This time period is sometimes
called the “Age of Mammals”
ANSWER
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$400 Answer
Cenozoic Era
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$500 Question
The prequel to Jurassic Park,
“Paleozoic Park”, would probably
include genetically engineered
species such as….
a)
Trilobites
b)
Mammoths
c)
Dinosaurs
d)
Small mammals
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$500 Answer
a) Trilobites
All other animal choices evolved
after the Paleozoic Era
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$100 Question
An organism will fossilize best
when….
a)
Covered in sediment slowly
b)
Covered in sediment quickly
c)
Not covered in sediment
d)
Submerged in water
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
$100 Answer
b) Covered in sediment quickly
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$200 Question
This type of fossilization
occurs when minerals
penetrate the cells of dead
organisms, turning them to
rock, often preserving the
whole organism.
ANSWER
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$200 Answer
Petrification
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$300 Question
What type of fossilization is
has preserved this primitive
insect?
ANSWER
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Organelles:
$300 Answer
Fossilization in Amber
(fossilized tree sap)
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$400 Question
The best name for this type of
fossil would be…
a)
Coporolite
b)
Gastolith
c)
Imprint
d)
Cast
ANSWER
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$400 Answer
c) Imprint
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$500 Question
Fossils most useful to
geologists, are those that only
appear in distinct, often thin
layers of rock. What are these
fossils called?
ANSWER
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$500 Answer
Index fossils
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$100 Question
The best estimate of the age of
the earth is….
a)
4.5 million years
b)
45 million years
c)
4.5 billion years
d)
4.5 trillion years
ANSWER
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$100 Answer
4.5 billion years
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$200 Question
Evidence suggests that life first
appeared on Earth
approximate how many years
ago?
ANSWER
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$200 Answer
3.5 billion years ago
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$300 Question
Which occurred first?
First plants or oxygenation of
the atmosphere?
ANSWER
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$300 Answer
First plants (OK first algae)
The algae conducted
photosynthesis to create the
oxygen in the atmosphere.
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$400 Question
The last ice age ended
approximately how many years
ago?
ANSWER
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$400 Answer
10,000 years ago
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$500 Question
Which geologic time era is
Mr. Johnstone’s favorite?
ANSWER
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$500 Answer
Paleozoic Era
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FINAL ROUND Question
What do scientists believe is
the cause for many of the “ice
ages” that have occurred in
Earth’s history?
ANSWER
BACK TO GAME
FINAL ROUND Answer
Movement of continents
that change how polar
and equatorial ocean
waters move around the
globe
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