Chapter 4 Study Guide
Identify the vocabulary word
1. One of the earliest forms of life on Earth
2. A group of organisms that normally reproduce with other members of its group
3. A process by which organisms with characteristics that are suited to a certain environment have a
better chance of surviving and reproducing
4. Earth’s history divided into units of time
5. Paleontologists use this to create pictures of different types of organisms in each geologic period.
6. This created the Earth’s mountains.
Identify the Era
7. Appearance of flowering plants
8. Simple mosses and ferns
9. Flowering plants are most common.
10. Extinction of marine invertebrates.
11. Extinction of dinosaurs.
Identify the following as being a natural contribution to extinction or a man-made contribution to
extinction.
12. Changes in oxygen levels in seawater
13. Over-harvesting
14. Cutting of the rainforest regions
15. Massive impact of asteroid
16. Pollution
Answer the following questions
17. Name the three eras.
18. Which unit of time is the earliest and longest unit?
19. Why is it important to know the first period of Geologic Time?
20. What is the first period of the Geologic Time Scale?
21. When does the first period occur?
22. List the eras in order from first to last.
23. Identify the era, period, and epoch in which we live.
24. Which is the largest unit of the Geologic Time Scale?
25. Which unit is divided into periods?
26. Which unit is divided into eras?
27. Which unit is divided into epochs?
28. List them by order of largest to smallest unit.
29. Which catastrophic event(s) blocked out the sun for long periods of time which disrupted many of
Earth’s processes?
30. Which catastrophic event takes place at the Earth’s plate boundaries?
31. Which catastrophic event(s) is related to the Ice Ages?
32. Which catastrophic event(s) is responsible for the dinosaur extinction?
33. During which era did dinosaurs become extinct?
34. Which catastrophic event(s) is responsible for the marine invertebrates’ extinction?
35. Which era witnessed the appearance of early invertebrates, fish, arachnids, insects, amphibians, and
reptiles?
36. Which era witnessed the appearance of new mammals and humans?
37. Which era witnessed the appearance of small mammals, birds, and was dominated by the dinosaurs?
38. Which era ended with the mass extinction of marine invertebrates?
39. Which era ended with the mass extinction of the dinosaurs?
40. What type of climate took place during the Paleozoic Era?
41. What type of climate took place during the Cenozoic Era?
42. What type of climate took place during the Mesozoic Era?
43. What can be learned from studying extinct life forms?
44. What are variations?
45. Has geologic time ended? If so, when did it end?
46. Where are most volcanoes located?