Vocabulary Practice

Name:______Class:______Date:______

The History of Life

Vocabulary Practice

relative dating / epoch / Cenozoic
radiometric dating / nebula / primate
isotope / ribozyme / prosimian
half-life / cyanobacteria / anthropoid
index fossil / endosymbiosis / hominid
geologic time scale / Paleozoic / bipedal
era / Cambrian explosion
period / Mesozoic
anthropo- /  / human / endo- /  / inside / -ped /  / foot
bi- /  / two / homo- /  / man / pro- /  / before
bio- /  / life / iso- /  / equal / simia- /  / ape
ceno- /  / new / meso- /  / middle / sym- /  / together
cyan- /  / greenish blue / paleo- /  / ancient / -zoic /  / geologic era

A. Word Origins Circle the Greek and Latin word parts in each vocabulary term. Then use the Greek and Latin meanings to construct a very basic definition of the vocabulary word.

WORD / DEFINITION
1.isotope
2.cyanobacteria
3.endosymbiosis
4.Paleozoic
5.Mesozoic
6.Cenozoic
7.prosimian
8.anthropoid
9.hominid
10.bipedal

Vocabulary Practice continued

B. Vector Vocabulary Define the words in the boxes. On the line across each arrow, write a phrase that describes how the words in the boxes are related to each other.

C. Categorize Words Write P next to words that can describe only primates that are not humans. Write H next to words that can describe only humans. Write B next to words that can describe both humans and other primates.

1. _____ prosimian / _____ anthropoid / _____ bipedal
_____ hominid

Vocabulary Practice continued

D. Who Am I? Choose among these terms to answer the riddles below:

relative dating / period / prosimian
radiometric dating / epoch / anthropoid
half-life / nebula / hominid
index fossil / ribozyme
era / primate

1.I am the amount of time it takes for half of an isotope
in a sample to decay into a different element:______

2.I am made up of epochs and am the most commonly
used unit of time on the geologic time scale:______

3.I am an RNA molecule that can catalyze specific
chemical reactions:______

4.I am a fossil that is used to determine the age of
other fossils or rock layers:______

5.I can be used to estimate when something lived
based on comparing where it is found in a rock layer
in relation to other rock layers:______

6.I am the smallest unit of geologic time and I last
several million years:______

7.I am a member of a group of mammals that have
flexible hands and feet and forward-looking eyes:______

8.I am a member of the oldest living primate group
and am small with big eyes:______

9.I can estimate the actual age of a fossil or rock layer
by using the decay rate of unstable isotopes in the
sample that is tested:______

10.I am made up of geologic periods and last tens to
hundreds of millions of years:______

11.I am a member of a group of primates that includes
monkeys and apes, and my name means
“humanlike”:______

12.I am a member of a group of primates whose only
living species is modern humans, Homo sapiens:______

13.I am a condensing cloud of gas and dust
in space:______

Vocabulary Practice continued

E. Words in Context Answer the questions to show your understanding of the vocabulary words.

1.Which is an example of using relative dating, measuring the decay rate of isotopes or comparing the age of nearby rock layers?

______

2.Which is an example of a ribozyme, a ribosome with the traits of an enzyme, or RNAwith the traits of an enzyme?

______

3.Which is a more likely place for cyanobacteria to live, within stromatolites in the ocean, or within particles in the air?

______

4.Which event occurred during the Cambrian explosion, the origin of the solar system, or the diversity of many animal species?

______

5.Does the theory of endosymbiosis describe the evolution of bacteria or of eukaryotic cells?

______

6.Does radiometric dating measure age using radio waves or isotopes of elements?

______

7.Does a half-life refer to the time it takes for an unstable isotope to decay, or the time it takes for half of a population to go extinct?

______

8.What is more likely to be an example of an index fossil, a trilobite found in a rock layer, or a woolly mammoth preserved in ice?

______

9.Is a nebula the possible beginning of Earth’s formation, or a solid object from space that impacted early Earth?

______

10.Is an era better represented by the Paleozoic, or by the Cambrian explosion?

______

11.Is an epoch larger or smaller than an era?

______

Biology1The History of Life