How Fossils Form

Question 1

After a turtle dies on a river bank, which explanation correctly tells why it is very unlikely to become a fossil?

Accepted Answer

Because tiny bugs and bacteria start breaking the turtle apart before enough mud or sand can cover it, so only a rare quick burial could ever let it fossilize.

Answer

Because the turtle’s shell is quickly covered by sand, and the sand turns into rock right away, keeping the turtle’s shape.

Answer

Because the turtle’s bones instantly change into minerals, so burial isn’t needed for a fossil to form.

Answer

Because the turtle’s skin turns into stone on its own, making a fossil without any sediment.

Question 2

Why is it rare to find a fossil?

Accepted Answer

Because most dead plants and animals decompose before they are buried in sediment.

Answer

Because every animal that dies is quickly covered by sand and turns into a fossil.

Answer

Because only dinosaur bones can become fossils.

Answer

Because all buried bodies instantly turn into rock.

Question 3

A tiny fish dies at the bottom of a lake. Which sentence correctly describes the whole process that can turn the fish into a fossil?

Accepted Answer

The fish dies, mud quickly covers its body, then over many millions of years the mud hardens into rock while minerals replace the fish’s bones, leaving a stone that has the fish’s shape.

Answer

The fish dies, and its whole body instantly becomes a rock that looks exactly like a fish.

Answer

The fish dies, water covers it, and after a short time the water changes into rock, keeping the fish’s shape.

Answer

The fish dies, the sun dries the fish, and later people find the dried fish and call it a fossil.

Try three questions

After a turtle dies on a river bank, which explanation correctly tells why it is very unlikely to become a fossil?

Why is it rare to find a fossil?

A tiny fish dies at the bottom of a lake. Which sentence correctly describes the whole process that can turn the fish into a fossil?

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