Name Date Class

Key Concept Builder LESSON 1

Fossils
Key Concept What are fossils, and how do they form?
Directions: Use these terms and the clues listed below to complete the puzzle.

carbon films catastrophism microfossils mineral replacement

paleontologist preserved remains trace fossils uniformitarianism

Clues
Across Down
4. copies of organisms made when 1. a scientist who studies fossils
groundwater fills pore spaces
2. the idea that geologic processes
5. evidence of the activity of an ancient occurring today are similar to those
organism that have occurred in the past
6. tiny fossils about the size of a speck 3. the idea that conditions and creatures
of dust on Earth change in quick, violent
events
7. actual remains of organisms
8. a carbon outline of an organism left
after gases and liquids are driven off

16 Clues to Earth’s Past

Name Date Class

Key Concept Builder LESSON 1

Fossils
Key Concept What are fossils, and how do they form?

A dead fish falls to a river bottom during a flood. Its body is rapidly buried by mud, sand, or other sediment.

Over time the body decomposes, and its hard parts are changed into rock.

As rocks are uplifted and eroded, the fossil is exposed.

Directions: Use the diagram to answer each question.

1. What does the second drawing show about how a fish fossil forms?

2. What does the third drawing show about how a fish fossil is discovered?

3. How does catastrophism explain how the fossil formed?

4. How does uniformitarianism explain how the fossil formed?

Clues to Earth’s Past 17

Name Date Class

Key Concept Builder LESSON 1

Fossils
Key Concept What are fossils, and how do they form?
Directions: Respond to each statement in the space provided.

Preserved Remains
Type of
Describe each type of preservation. Describe how each fossil forms.
Preservation
Preserved 1. 2.
remains

Carbon films 3. 4.

Mineral 5. 6.
replacement

Molds 7. 8.

Casts 9. 10.

Trace fossils 11. 12.