The History of Planet Earth
Study Guide
Name: __________________
4th grade PSI Science
-----------------------------------------------The Structure of Earth
1. Label the three layers of Earth.
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2. What is Earth’s crust largely made of?
3. What can we learn about from the Earth’s crust?
Rock Layers
4. What is sediment?
5. How do sedimentary rocks form?
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4th Grade PSI
The History of Planet Earth
6. What is the Law of Superposition?
7. How might rock layers differ if they formed in different types of
environments?
Fossils and Relative Time
8. What are fossils?
9. Why do fossils found in rocks differ over time?
10. If rocks with the same kinds of fossils are found in four
different places, what is likely true of these rocks?
11. Explain how fossils can help us compare rocks to each
other.
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4th Grade PSI
The History of Planet Earth
Rock Formations and Earth Forces
12. What are some examples of Earth forces that can disrupt the
Law of Superposition?
13. What are plates? What do they do?
Tectonic Plates
14. What are the two types of crust? How are they alike and
different?
15. What are the three types of plate boundaries? What are
plates doing at each type of boundary?
Earth’s Visible Features
16. Where do mountain ranges form? (what kind of boundary
and what kind of crust)
17. Where do ocean trenches forms?
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4th Grade PSI
The History of Planet Earth
18. Where do ocean ridges form?
19. Where do volcanoes form?
20. What forms where two continental plates diverge?
Patterns of Earth’s Features
21. On a world map, where do most volcanoes exist? Why?
22. When the location of earthquakes are mapped, what pattern
is found?
23. What would you expect a map of ocean trench locations
across the globe to look like?
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4th Grade PSI
The History of Planet Earth