3rd Grade Science : Fossils As Evidence
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for 3rd Grade Science
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Fossils As Evidence
What is a fossil?
Rocks and minerals found in the ground that can be combined to make something new
A living example of a plant or animal
A type of underwater shell found on beaches around the world
Preserved parts or traces of animals or plants that lived in the past
Preserved parts or traces of animals or plants that lived in the past
A fossil is a preserved or protected piece of a plant or animal that is no longer living. Fossils can be used to learn about organisms that lived during a time humans were not around to study them. Fossils also allow scientists to learn about different environments and any changes that have occurred over millions of years.
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Fossils can provide evidence about organisms. Which statement is something fossils CANNOT tell us about a plant or animal?
Fossils can tell us what the organisms liked or disliked.
Fossils can tell how organisms have changed over time.
Fossils can tell what an organism looked like.
Fossils can tell us when the organism lived on Earth.
Fossils can tell us what the organisms liked or disliked.
Fossils seem simple, but they contain a vast amount of information for researchers and scientists to study. Fossils can give us a general idea of what an organism looked like, how it has changed or evolved, where and when it lived on Earth, and even what it might have eaten. Fossils cannot tell us what an organism liked or disliked. These are personal preferences that an organism would have, and that cannot be determined from a fossil.
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Almost all previous plants and animals became fossils.
False
True
False
This statement is surprisingly false! An organism rarely became or becomes a fossil. Many prehistoric animals were eaten, decomposed before preservation, or the elements broke the bones or materials down beyond recognition. Conditions within the environment and the location of the dead organism had to be or have to be ideal for a fossil to be formed. Finding the fossils presents a whole other set of challenges!
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Gordon Hubbell and a crew of fossil hunters were digging holes in the desert of Peru in 1988. This desert is one of the driest places on Earth. It gets almost no rain. Hubbel was digging and found jawbones and more than 200 sharp teeth. He is an expert in fossilized sharks, so he recognized the teeth right away. They were shaped like triangles and came to a very sharp point. They belonged to a distant relative of the great white shark!
How could Hubbell "prove" that these teeth were from a relative of the great white shark?
There is no way to prove where these teeth came from, so he can only make a claim.
Hubbell can compare the tooth to all of the fossils ever found and show people that this one is different.
Show a fossilized tooth and a great white shark tooth next to each other so people can see the similarities.
Hubbell can dig for other fossilized teeth and show people how many there are in this area.
Show a fossilized tooth and a great white shark tooth next to each other so people can see the similarities.
Hubbell is an expert in fossilized sharks, so he recognized the similarities between his find and great white shark teeth, but others may need "proof" before they would believe him. If Hubbell placed a great white shark's tooth next to his fossil, the similarities and differences could be noted. By comparing the teeth, it would allow scientists to determine what creature it belonged to with certainty.
Example Question #2 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Scientists found a fossil of a tooth in the dirt. They want to predict what this organism ate based on the shape of the tooth.
Which answer choice is most reasonable?
A tooth cannot tell what type of food an animal ate.
This tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely a meat-eater.
The tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely ate insects.
This tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely a plant-eater.
This tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely a meat-eater.
Fossils tell scientists many things about animals and plants that lived long ago. If a researcher were studying this tooth, they could see it is large, would come to a sharp point, and these types of teeth most often belong to a carnivore or something that eats meat. If this tooth were compared to those of other creatures that eat meat, there would be many similarities. If it were compared to a tooth of an herbivore or something that eats plants, there would be many differences. Scientists make inferences based on comparisons to other findings.
Example Question #11 : Fossils As Evidence
What is an organism? Example: Fossils can be used to learn about organisms that lived during a time humans were not around to study them.
An early version of humans that are extinct now
An individual plant, animal, or single-cell life form
A species of dinosaurs from the Jurrasic period
Groups of cells that form tissue and perform a function in the body
An individual plant, animal, or single-cell life form
Organisms are a term for a plant, animal, or single-cell life form. "Organism" encompasses all living things, including humans. In the example above, humans are using the fossils of these previously living things to study and learn more about them.
Example Question #6 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Fossils can provide evidence about organisms. Which statement is something fossils can tell us about a plant or animal?
Fossils provide evidence of the size of an organism.
Fossils provide evidence of the location an organism lived.
All of the answer choices are correct.
Fossils provide evidence of changes to the organism's structure through time.
All of the answer choices are correct.
Fossils seem simple, but they contain a vast amount of information for researchers and scientists to study. Fossils can give us a general idea of an organism's size, how it has changed or evolved, and where it lived on Earth. Scientists and researchers can learn immense amounts of information from fossils.
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Scientists on an expedition recently found the fossil below. What assumption can the scientists make about this dinosaur?
This dinosaur may have used its horns for defense.
This dinosaur may have been scared of flying insects and birds.
This dinosaur was very small and petite.
This dinosaur may have been green and brown.
This dinosaur may have used its horns for defense.
Fossils tell scientists many things about animals and plants that lived long ago. If a researcher were studying this dinosaur, they could make assumptions about its life based on its physical characteristics. This dinosaur has large horns, so it likely used them in defense situations. With only fossils, it is not possible to tell what it was scared of or what its color was. Scientists can measure the bones and compare them to other findings to determine if the dinosaur would be considered small or large. In this case, the dinosaur appears to be large.
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
A group of researchers found the fossils below on a dig. What assumptions can they make about these organisms?
All of the answers are correct.
They may have lived in groups.
They could swim.
They are a species of fish.
None of the answers are correct.
All of the answers are correct.
Researchers studying this fossil can learn quite a few things from something that appears so simple. Scientists could determine that these are a species of fish based on their shape and bone structure, they could swim as evidence of the tail and structure, and with so many together in one place, it is possible they lived in groups or schools. Scientists can also test the age of the rock, learn about the location they lived, and determine which family of aquatic creatures they are similar to.
Example Question #6 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
How does a fossil tell us about an organism that lived in the past?
A fossil can tell us the color of an organism, its favorite food, and the age of the organism.
A fossil can tell us the approximate size of an organism, its favorite food, and how many offspring it had.
A fossil cannot tell us anything about an organism that lived in the past. We would need to see the plant or animal to make any decisions about it.
A fossil provides evidence about the approximate size of an organism, its living location, and the conditions that an organism lived in.
A fossil provides evidence about the approximate size of an organism, its living location, and the conditions that an organism lived in.
Fossils are a rich source of information to learn about organisms of the past. A fossil can tell us the size of an organism or at least its bones. We can also study where the organisms lived based on where the fossil is found. Scientists can explore what the conditions of that area were, so we know if the organism was an aquatic plant, a land-dwelling creature, or something that needed warm weather.
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