Name____________________ Date________________ Period__________________
ESS Test Review – Astrobiology and History in Fossils
1. What is NASA’s definition for life?
2. What are the 6 elements of life?
3. Which layer of Earth do scientists believe life began in?
4. Where are three places in water that scientists believe life could have begin on
Earth?
5. List and explain the theories of the Origin of Life.
6. All life on Earth is based on which element?
7. What is the habitable zone?
8. What are stromatolites and when and where did they form?
9. Where else other than Earth do scientists think life might be found in our solar
system?
10. What is the name given to planets outside our solar system where scientists think
they might find life?
11. Who was the first person to begin writing down facts about geology?
12. Define relative dating
.
13. Explain the following concepts:
a. Principle of Original Horizontality
b. Law of Superposition
c. Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationship
d. Principle of Lateral Continuity
e. Unconformity
f. Index fossil
g. Inclusion
h. Uniformitarianism
14. What is the age of Earth that is accepted by most scientists?
15. Define absolute dating.
16. Explain where carbon-14 comes from and how it is used to find the age of some
fossils. What are the two drawbacks to carbon dating?
17. Define half-life, isotope, daughter isotope, and parent isotope.
18. What is mass extinction? How many times has it happened on Earth? When did
it happen? What were the factors that created mass extinction?
19. Be able to identify the relative age of strata and explain the geologic history
behind what happened and why (similar to “Using the Rock Record to Interpret
Geologic History” worksheet.