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Chapter 10 Study Guide
What are fossils?
What kind of evidence to fossils provide?
How do most fossils form and what is the process of how fossils form?
Different types of fossils and how they form
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How do paleontologists study fossils?
What is the change in the fossil record?
Evolution and extinction-
How do sedimentary rocks form?
What is relative age and how do we use relative age to find out how old rocks are?
What is absolute age?
The law of superposition
Igneous rocks- Extrusions and Intrusions
How do extrusions and intrusions tell us about relative age of rocks?
What is an unconformity?
What are Index fossils and why are they useful?
What makes a good index fossil?
What is radioactive decay?
What is a half life?
How do geologists use radioactive dating to determine absolute age?
What are the two elements most commonly used for radioactive dating?
Which element is more useful for dating organisms and which element is more useful for
dating rocks?
Why is radioactive dating good for igneous rocks and not sedimentary rocks (layers)?
What is the geological time scale?
How is the geological time scale divided up?
What happened during the Precambrian Time and when did it start?
Eras and Periods
When did scientists hypothesize that the Earth formed? How do they know this?
How did Earth take shape?
How did Earth’s oceans form?
How did the Earth’s oceans change the atmosphere?
How did Earth’s continents form?
What were Earth’s earliest life forms similar to?
How did Earth’s earliest life forms change the atmosphere?