3rd Grade Science : Life Science
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for 3rd Grade Science
All 3rd Grade Science Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils As Evidence Of Environments Organisms Lived In
Antarctica is the coldest place on our planet. Temperatures can reach -120oF, and winds can be powerful. There are no plants or animals that can make their homes permanently in central Antarctica. Scientists were exploring a place called the Dry Valleys and found fossils of moss and small animals. They were discovered in ancient lakebeds. When researchers found the age of the fossils, they were about 14.1 million years old. Scientists realized that shrubs grew around the lakes, and insects lived there too. For insects and plants to survive this area, it had to be warmer and more welcoming to life than it is today.
What did scientists discover that led them to believe Antarctica was once a very different place?
Fossils of moss
Lakebeds
Fossils of small animals
All of the answer choices are correct
None of the answer choices are correct
All of the answer choices are correct
This short passage includes a lot of information and details about the fossils and lakebeds found in Antarctica. The passage explains that there was a change in the environment. Currently, Antarctica is freezing and not hospitable for life year-round, but there was evidence of moss and small animals that were found in fossils in ancient lakebeds. This tells readers that at one point, it must have been warmer than it is today to support life.
Example Question #5 : Fossils As Evidence
High up in the Himalaya Mountains, fossils of fish and other aquatic sea animals have been found. These mountains are hundreds of miles away from the closest sea. They are snow-capped at the tip, and the land is dry and brown. The layered rocks of the Himalayas are rich with not only fossils of aquatic creatures but also fossils of coral reef remnants and marine plants.
What does this information tell researchers or scientists?
None of these answer choices are correct.
The environment has changed in this region over time.
The mountains have moved over the years from an ocean area to where they are now.
Fish and other aquatic creatures used to live on the sides and tops of mountains.
The environment has changed in this region over time.
Scientists or researchers study fossils to learn about the environment and any changes that may have occurred over time. In this example, aquatic plants, animals, and coral reef fossils were found in the rock layers of the Himalaya Mountains, which is not typical for what we know of the environment today. When thinking about where these types of fossils are usually found, scientists could see that this area used to be underwater.
Example Question #161 : Life Science
High up in the Himalaya Mountains, fossils of fish and other aquatic sea animals have been found. These mountains are hundreds of miles away from the closest sea. They are snow-capped at the tip, and the land is dry and brown. The layered rocks of the Himalayas are rich with not only fossils of aquatic creatures but also fossils of coral reef remnants and marine plants.
Where would these types of fossils typically be found?
Tundras
Deserts
Oceans
Rainforests
Oceans
Scientists or researchers study fossils to learn about the environment and any changes that may have occurred over time. Typically fossils of coral reefs, marine plants, and aquatic creatures would be found in an ocean. These fossils were found in the rock layers of the Himalaya Mountains, which shows there was a change in the environment over time.
Example Question #4 : Use Fossils As Evidence Of Environments Organisms Lived In
Researchers were digging in the desert when they came across a fossilized cactus leaf buried in the sand. This discovery proves that this environment has changed immensely over time.
True
False
False
The statement in the question is false. If a cactus leaf was found, it means the environment was a desert at the time of the plant's death. The area is still a desert, which shows this area has not changed during the two time periods. There are other examples of areas that have changed drastically through the years, but this is not one of them.
Example Question #1 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
What is a fossil?
Rocks and minerals found in the ground that can be combined to make something new
A type of underwater shell found on beaches around the world
Preserved parts or traces of animals or plants that lived in the past
A living example of a plant or animal
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 #2 : 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 how organisms have changed over time.
Fossils can tell us when the organism lived on Earth.
Fossils can tell us what the organisms liked or disliked.
Fossils can tell what an organism looked like.
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 #3 : Use Fossils To Provide Evidence Of Organisms
Almost all previous plants and animals became fossils.
True
False
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 #4 : 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?
Hubbell can dig for other fossilized teeth and show people how many there are in this area.
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.
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 #1 : 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.
The tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely ate insects.
This tooth is sharp, so the creature was most likely a meat-eater.
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
A species of dinosaurs from the Jurrasic period
An individual plant, animal, or single-cell life form
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.
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